In the midst of this we communicate quite a bit throughout the week on what we call our "dev channel". We try to keep most communications there so other people

In the midst of this we communicate quite a bit throughout the week on what we call our "dev channel". We try to keep most communications there so other people see what's happening too. For business development we have "growth channel" that does the same thing, but for cross functional marketing and sales. The week long projects do 2 things or us - it gives us the ability to reassess if someone needs help, and it forces people to plan a little bit. Other than that, async communication throughout the week has helped a lot. That usually replaces the "walk up to desk" thing people do. The key here is you're not expected to reply right away. Of note is we do the hangout on Tuesday of the week. This means you can get your act together on monday and prepare, tuesday we have the 1 meeting and try to cluster other meetings around that (usually another hour at most) and then the rest of the week is free to get work done.