Beyond the terminal: why communication is a core skill for SREs

When I applied for the position of Site Reliability Engineer trainee in the Care team my biggest fear was that I’d spend the whole summer alone at my keyboard. Luckily it quickly became clear that that wasn’t going to be the case. While technical skill is essential, being an SRE requires a lot of collaboration and communication between various people and many don’t realize that.

Communication in SRE work can be divided into two main types: internal communication within the SRE team, and cross-team communication with clients and other stakeholders. Both of these are essential in two critical contexts: responding to incidents and managing change.

Inside the SRE Team

Effective internal communication is the backbone of a healthy SRE team. At Care, we maintain frequent contact with each other through scheduled meetings:

• Daily meetings every morning keep everyone up to date on progress and they provide an opportunity for discussions that can lead to anything.

• Weekly workshops on Wednesdays offer time for learning and collaboration.

• Ticket workshops on Thursdays help us resolve outstanding issues together and share knowledge.

These regular meetings support collaboration. They make it easy to ask for help and identify the right person to tackle a problem with. We’re encouraged to be open about challenges, share ideas, and support one another. It is the best part of being an SRE, no one needs to be alone.

Also, there are no preplanned roles where you need to act a certain way. Some people are more interested in human connection than others. SREs can be as social as they see best and the roles in the team form naturally.

Cross-Team Communication

SREs operate across multiple client projects and we need to adapt our communication style depending on who we’re talking to. This could mean breaking down complex technical issues for someone without a technical background, or diving deep into system architecture with a fellow engineer.

We regularly communicate with stakeholders such as:

• Product Owners

• IT Managers

• Developers

• Lead/Principal Engineers

Some clients prefer frequent weekly check-ins, while others require only monthly updates. For example, our senior SRE Mikko Aalto frequently communicates with 3–5 contacts from one client, discussing everything from upcoming deployments to the general process. Another of his clients prefers a lighter-touch approach, needing only monthly communication.

Regular updates ensure transparency, accountability, and alignment between technical work and business goals. Each month Samu Warinowski (SRE) reports to the broader leadership team with a summary of the month, hour tracking, incidents, progress in minor development tasks, and the next planned steps. In addition, he responds to user questions and resolves service-related issues on the platform.

When Incidents Happen

When something goes wrong, SREs need to act fast. Quick, clear communication helps the right people jump in, understand the issue, and work together to fix it.

For example, our Lead SRE, Petri Koistinen, is often brought in during urgent incidents. In these moments, communication needs to be fast, clear, and focused in finding the solution. He can be pulled into Major Incident Management meetings, working alongside client-side experts to isolate the issue and resolve it quickly, usually within a few hours. Once the immediate problem is solved, part of the communication involves ensuring long-term fixes are implemented so the issue doesn’t reoccur.

Warinowski also handles fast-paced problem-solving in his client projects. He’s in weekly contact with Product Owners and keeps a close eye on the progress of small development tasks. If something goes wrong, he reacts quickly.

Change Management

“Our communication typically revolves around change, whether it's planned or unexpected.” - Petri Koistinen

Change management is one of the main responsibilities for SREs so that risks are reduced. Modern IT environments have often evolved without comprehensive oversight of the overall architecture. That leads to complex systems where no one has complete visibility into how everything works.

Whether it’s deploying a system update or navigating an emergency, SREs must clearly communicate the scope, potential impact, and mitigation strategies of any change.

Conclusion: Care Bears are Social Animals

Successful SREs are effective communicators. Whether it’s collaborating within the team, aligning with clients, handling emergencies, or managing risk, clear and empathetic communication is at the core of what we do. Being an SRE isn’t just about keeping systems running, it’s about keeping people connected and information flowing!