Recently during a workshop, we had a conversation about how to keep the team informed with minimal time and energy investment. The discussion evolved into a broader dialogue about transparency and management communication tactics. I gave an answer in the workshop which was a shorter version of what I’m going to write here. I think the topic is something that we can always work on, and where a few simple tools and methods can make all the difference.
The ideal state of leadership communication is that everyone on the team knows:
- Where the team is headed long term.
- What the priorities are to get there and how their role fits in.
- What decisions management is making, why, and how it fits into the long-term direction.
There are a near-infinite amount of ways to make this happen: hosting high-quality meetings, scheduling regular 1:1s with your team members, or having a goal board and updating it. Even the most perfect systems may not get you and your team all the way to the ideal state because of external factors beyond the leader’s and team’s control. Since we’re all busy and short on time, what are some things we can do in little time that have a big impact on team awareness and perceptions of communication? Read on, fellow traveler!
Transparency Mindset
The larger your team and company, the harder this is to implement—and the more important it becomes. Size equals communication dilution. You want your team to be able to explain to someone else at the company what’s going on and why.
“Why would you want this, Daniel?”
Great question. For starters, because then your team members are ambassadors of your vision. If they know what’s going on and why, they can help disseminate that information to less informed teammates. You have fewer people in your office asking the same thing; your team is empowered to fill the gaps.
Simon Sinek has some excellent books on this topic. If you are the kind of person who tells people “Because I said so” or “This is a management decision” (which is the same thing, just in different, bureaucratic, not-fun wrapping paper), I would highly recommend Start With Why (Sinek, 2009). It goes into some awesome examples of how empowering people with the reasons behind direction and vision helps promote engagement.
So, Transparency Mindset: if your team wants to know more, that’s a good thing and it’s a solvable issue. Your goal as a leader is to get them closer to the ideal state. No need to become frustrated or tired when people want to know more; this is a sign of engagement and caring. If people don’t know what’s going on and they don’t ask or try to find out, that is a red flag. It means you’re dealing with disconnectedness and cynicism in the workplace. I’ll have some writing out about that in the future and will link it here. For now, the mindset is that this is a good problem to work on and that increasing transparency will help you in the long run.
The Weekly Thoughts Email
You can have your meetings, your 1:1s, and your stand-ups, but one tool I’ve been using for years to great success is the weekly thoughts email. This is simple, and anyone leading a project, a team, or a group of people on a mission can use it. Every week, at the beginning of the week, send your whole team an email with some thoughts about what’s going on for you as a leader. I usually include:
- The priority for the week.
- Some kudos and positive acknowledgments.
- Thoughts on some decisions I’m making and WHY I’m making the calls I’m making.
- Important admin reminders if I have them.
- Attached important emails or resources so the team doesn’t need to hunt for them.
- A tidbit about my personal life.
I keep it raw. It’s an unfiltered, minimally edited, human email—almost like a journal entry or a letter to a friend. I think maybe 20–30% of my team read them each week, but I always “reply all” to my last “thoughts” email from the previous week so all the emails are right there in the chain. This email gives everyone on my team some insight into me as a leader, and I think it’s been huge in establishing that I’m a person, too. It also puts some important things into writing if you need to create a track record. It gives my team a central place to go for information. My team works hard! I don’t want them digging through emails.
Distributing Knowledge Ownership
We have many goals as a leader. One that I firmly believe in is to “make ourselves not needed.” I firmly believe that good leaders aren’t needed because they have empowered their team to do their jobs fully and autonomously without them. This means they’re experts, highly trained, passionate, and able to solve sticky problems with minimal support.
They know the end goal and, therefore, can work within the system to see the mission executed without you being there to explain priorities or help them problem-solve. This frees you, the leader, up for higher-order thinking and problems. If your team can handle the day-to-day, you suddenly get to think about how to make next year better. What broken systems need fixing that you can now engage in?
If you’re new to this space, check out the article “How I Learned to Let My Workers Lead” (Stayer, 1990). If your team is coming to you for knowledge, you have an opportunity to empower a leader on your team to fill your shoes. If you have a team lead or experienced person on the team, perhaps you can have them explain what’s going on at the next stand-up meeting. This isn’t going to work for everything, but where it does, it’s an awesome opportunity to let your team step up and own something while taking something off your plate.
Through this process, you get a reality check, less work for you, and an opportunity for someone on your team to step up. Feeding three birds with one scone. If this solution is off-putting, then you may need to invest in your team more and consider why you wouldn’t trust them with your responsibilities. Not all teams are ready for this. Neither are all leaders. And that’s okay! As Muriah, my co-founder, would say:
“You can’t compare your chapter 1 to someone else’s chapter 20.”
I have a goal to post regular blogs on these and other related topics. If there is something you want to read about, don’t hesitate to reach out! Until next time,
Cheers, Dan
References
Sinek, Simon. Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action. New York: Portfolio, 2009.
Stayer, Ralph. “How I Learned to Let My Workers Lead.” Harvard Business Review 68, no. 6 (1990): 66–83.