Tell ‘Em What You Want and How and Why

The people that you work with have lots of things to accomplish every day. As a leader, strive to ensure that what you do makes it easier for them to do their job. When you need some help from someone tell them exactly what you are looking for. If you have a project that needs to be completed and have some ideas in mind how to do it, tell them, don’t hold back. If you know exactly how you want it done, it doesn’t make sense to turn them loose only to have to redirect them later. If you don’t know how you want it done and are wide open how to get to the goal, tell them that too so they know they have a clean slate. If you have ideas, share them up front. If you know of pitfalls that may happen, give them a heads up. There is no reason to make someone guess. Most people want to do a good job and make the person giving them the assignment happy, so tell them how to make that happen.

Think about the extra information that you would like to have when someone gives you an assignment and provide those details. Put yourself in the other person’s shoes just for a moment and think about how you can make their success more likely. Help them to understand the whys and how this task fits into a larger picture and any related strategies. With the right information, people at every level make better decisions. Give people every chance to succeed.