I was explaining my job to a new friend ("No really, those Buy now buttons on websites? That's me.") over a cup of coffee, which is always fun. But then she asked me how I work with designers and, like so much else in UX Writing, I had to say it depends.
I've worked with senior designers. Junior designers. Designers who saw content design as a saving grace, and designers who thought developers may as well input the copy. Designers from multiple cultures, designers in offices and online. And with every single one, we worked differently.
With some, we scheduled daily meetings to work on a problem. With others, every few days we'd shoot a huddle? message back and forth on Slack. Sometimes conversations happened in the kitchen over a banitsa, or in front a whiteboard, or via Figma comment threads. Sometimes I needed to step away and tinker with some ideas; sometimes, we rewrote phrases together until our eyes blurred.
Even now, after about five years in tech, the way I communicate depends on the individual. I work remotely, which I'm grateful for, but I do think that the hybrid model makes this easier. Why? Because it's about relationship. It's about trusting each other's expertise (if it's there; heaven knows I blustered through that early on) and working together to find a solution. An office space isn't necessary for this, but it does make it easier. Fully remote, you have to try a bit harder to have those coffee break moments.
I also hate meetings as much as the next guy, but goodness, it's often worlds more productive to meet for fifteen minutes than to ping pong texts across the screen. Many of my smaller projects are more message based now, but that's only possible because they start with a clear outline of what we're trying to achieve, and because I know how to work with the person next to me. It's like a bad cliché: a jazz band rifting on one another, naturally knowing when to come together, and when to play solo (I assume).
So...it depends. Some methods are more proven than others. Some people work in different ways. It just takes time to figure out how you work best, as well as those around you.