“The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion it has taken place”
George Bernard Shaw
You are a commander of an elite military unit just returning from a successful mission where you took down the enemy target and did not sustain any casualties.
You report to your superior expecting accolades and maybe even a medal.
Instead you get the dressing down of your career.
“How could you be so stupid?” He barks.
You quickly learn that you took out the wrong target.
To be fair in the prep meeting your superior wasn’t exactly clear on which target, but you used your data and military intel to determine the one. Trying to defend yourself you point this out to the commander.
“At your rank you should just know.” He fires back.
Hopefully this scenario will never play out, because the military has very well-defined communication expectations both up and down that chain of command.
Communication is key
No matter what your position or title is in the company, clear direct communication of expectations is essential.
The military has this model right. Objectives are clearly defined from the top-ranking officials.
This doesn’t mean the colonel gets involved in the carrying out the orders, but there is no question in the minds of those below him what needs to get done.
Imagine troops going into battle only assuming they knew what the commanding officer needed based on assumptions or non-verbal cues.
It would be chaos.
Civilian World.
If a leader feels like their team should just pick up what they are laying down, without clearly stating expectations, they are setting the entire team up for failure.
In the article “Your team can’t read you mind” Anna Ranieri writes that not clearly communicating expectations to your team can lead to wasted time, poor morale & lack of teamwork (also, drivers of employee engagement).
She notes that leaders, no matter the level in the organization, should always make sure teams understand both the big picture and details needed to get there.
Often leaders feel at their level they should not have to tell their team what needs to be done, the team should “just know”. While its true at certain levels of leadership you should not have to give your team step by step instructions, but to not communicate what you expect only sets everyone up for failure.
Doug Conant former CEO of Campbell Soup company notes that leadership needs to ensure that teams at least know the “what” & the “how”. After this has been established great leaders will then give the team to independence to get to a solution
Successful companies communicate well.
Make it safe
Colossal communication failures often occur because employees didn’t feel safe raising their hand and asking a clarifying question.
You need to give your team the freedom to ask dumb questions.
Have you ever been in a meeting where expectations were not clear and team members came out with totally differing interpretations of what is being asked of them?
Marching Orders
Regardless of your title in the organization the most important job you have as a leader is to ensure your team clearly understand what is being asked of them.
Research supports the higher you are up in the chain of command the clearer you should communicate down the chain of command.
Let’s take a lesson from our military colleagues and ensure that we are delivering clear, concise commands
That’s an order!