by Angela GalloglyVice President of USA Operations, Advanced Team Concepts
http://www.atctraining.com
Picture this scenario: It’s been one of those hectic weeks at the office. People are busy, decisions are being made and changes are happening. There’s reorganization, renewed processes, and the resetting of expectations. “Buzz, buzz, buzz.” The rumors are flying and water cooler chat is at full throttle. It seems that something big is about to happen.
This is probably the time when we should be coordinating our efforts to meet the demands of a changing business climate, but instead, the place goes silent, at least in terms of information. We can still hear the “buzz”, of course. The stories and rumors are there – the sound that could mark a major decline in morale and productivity and a major increase in anxiety.
Let me tell you a little more about the “buzz” you’re hearing. It’s a bridge that our brains have built. It’s the way we humans fill in the blanks when we don’t have all of the facts or information. It’s the way we interpret reality.
Picture it this way:
___________________ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
The solid line is Information and the dashed line is Interpretation
I might take the limited information that I’ve been given and make up the rest. An example: Perhaps my manager wants me to delegate some of my weekly tasks to a team member. I might interpret that as a threat when in fact, my manager plans to assign me to an exciting new project.
___________________ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
The solid line is Information and the dashed line is Interpretation
I might take the limited information that I’ve been given and make up the rest. An example: Perhaps my manager wants me to delegate some of my weekly tasks to a team member. I might interpret that as a threat when in fact, my manager plans to assign me to an exciting new project.
Here’s a better scenario:
____________________________________________________ __ __ __ __
When we add Information, we reduce the amount of Interpretation and resulting “buzz” that takes place.
There’s an expression that’s been bouncing around my organization for years:
Information is the lifeblood of an organization.
If you want to have greater success in your work, business and life, try talking a bit more. Not by adding to the buzz, but by providing needed information. This doesn't mean that we should share everything. There will be times when information should and must remain confidential. But there are many times when we can and should provide more detail.
Here are some examples: Take the time to give complete instructions. Tell someone what your thoughts are about a project. Provide information around why changes are being made as well as what the changes are. There are many opportunities in a day to provide more and better information.
____________________________________________________ __ __ __ __
When we add Information, we reduce the amount of Interpretation and resulting “buzz” that takes place.
There’s an expression that’s been bouncing around my organization for years:
Information is the lifeblood of an organization.
If you want to have greater success in your work, business and life, try talking a bit more. Not by adding to the buzz, but by providing needed information. This doesn't mean that we should share everything. There will be times when information should and must remain confidential. But there are many times when we can and should provide more detail.
Here are some examples: Take the time to give complete instructions. Tell someone what your thoughts are about a project. Provide information around why changes are being made as well as what the changes are. There are many opportunities in a day to provide more and better information.
I'd love to hear some of your own examples. When has the presence or absence of information impacted your business?
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Absolutely!!! I work for a large telecommunications company and this post really hit a very resounding chord for me. That "silent" period when all the signs of impending change cause such FUD that the non-productive speculating becomes all you CAN hear! Along the same lines as that is when a business leader gives their team WHAT they want the team to do, but not WHY. We often forget as business leaders and managers that true empowerment of our team is based on giving them the information not to just "do what we say", but to "execute on what we mean...the vision". We are currently transitioning from a waterfall method of development to an Agile scrum framework, but we've been mandated to go Agile with no vision for the problem we are working to solve! The team is spending so much time interpreting the potential visions that we aren't able to move forward on actually moving to Agile!
ReplyDeleteLaura - well said! Your comment on empowering our people is right on. To enable our teams, we've got to equip them with information! Sometimes we hold out intentionally, sometimes due to an assumption that everyone "already knows" and sometimes we're just in a hurry, but regardless of the reason, the result is often a barrier to the team's success. Thanks for the comments and for bringing your real work example to this topic.
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