Take one project you were deep in: walk me through how you kept the people around it informed. What did you deliberately not send?
Why this works
Most candidates claim good communication; this asks for the mechanics — who, what, how often — which only exist if they actually ran them. The "what didn't you send" clause tests noise discipline, the half of keeping people informed that status-update culture skips.
Follow-up probes
- Who needed different information, and how did their updates differ?
- How did you handle news that got worse between updates?
- What did people learn from you before they had to ask?
What good looks like
Different audiences named with different needs, a rhythm people could rely on, bad news traveling as fast as good, and evidence they cut noise on purpose rather than forwarding everything.
Red flags
One identical update blasted to everyone, surprises still surfacing at deadlines despite all the reporting, or "informed" equated with having sent something.
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