Leading Without Surprises
If you manage a direct team of people, or if you manage project teams – take this one tip to heart: never surprise your people. Adopt a communication style where you want them to know what you know.
Why?
Leaders (whether leaders of a team or project managers leading a project team) get into trouble when they start limiting or throttling what information they share with others. They forget what they’ve told one person, they presume certain info won’t benefit others, etc. Inevitably, this hurts them in the long run, by undermining the trust they have built with their team. This approach also assumes you know who needs what info, when inevitably you don’t!
Instead, if you approach your communications with your team, or your project team, with a “as soon as I know, you’ll know” approach, you eliminate surprises and interact from a place of trust. They will surprise you with what they do with the info you give them. And, this trust is priceless, and insanely hard (if not impossible) to regain if you’ve lost it.
How can you do this? Here are 3 easy steps you can take TODAY to lead without surprises:
- Meet with your team and tell them that this is your approach – make yourself accountable to them!
- As every piece of information comes your way – voicemails, emails, reports, research findings, discussions in meetings, etc., you ask yourself: “could anyone on my team benefit from this information in any way possible, even just remotely?” If the answer is yes, share it immediately!
- Setup “safe-time” with your team or project team – an hour a week as a group, and ideally an hour per week with each member. Make this a closed-door session where nothing will leave the room. This allows you to share things you can’t share publically, and allows your team member to share things with you. Many project managers skip this step, and it inevitably hurts them later in the project.
Follow these 3 steps to build trust with your team and eliminate surprises. And remember, you will be amazed at what they do with the info you provide them!
See also:Posted in: Leadership
[...] Ask yourself, do you create drama or avoid it? You can get a lot done as a team member and as a leader by ignoring drama and actively working to reduce it. How? Use metrics (i.e. reportable numbers) in your work to completely dissolve “arguments of opinion.” Build effective work relationships. If you’re a leader, then lead without surprises. [...]