Ask your webmaster to fix a bug on your website and you’ll likely get placed on the bottom of her very long “to do” list. Ask her to fix a bug on your website because you’re losing over $1000 in sales per day because of it, and she’ll have it fixed before you make it to your desk.
The little bit of extra knowledge empowers her to prioritize accordingly, work toward a company-wide goal rather than just a department goal, and enjoy the satisfaction of knowing she is helping her company grow financially.
Keep sharing the “why” rather than just the “what” or the “how” to all your team members — and on a regular basis — and you’ll soon have your entire company buzzing with engaged, productive employees. This is motivational management.
The Enemies
But if giving context to your team yields such effective results, why does it come so hard to some leaders?
The “curse” of knowledge. As a leader, your access to abundant knowledge gained through higher education, seminars, meetings and rubbing shoulders with upper management can actually work against you. When you assume your team knows all that you do and you start your pre-project debriefing at point three rather than point one, your knowledge becomes a curse.
Increasing workloads. Often the growing pile of work on your desk and increased responsibilities can take your focus away from communicating to your team or rush you to delegate tasks without explaining all the facts to your team.
Forgetfulness. Communication bottlenecks can simply be the result of unassuming forgetfulness rather than deliberate withholding if information.
Mistrust. Leaders who fear a security leak or assume the worst about their team members may be tempted to keep classified information under tight rein — even though it would greatly help their team to know it.
Ego. Unfortunately, some leaders enjoy an ego boost from knowing something that others don’t. Even to the detriment of their teams.
Action Points
Assume nothing. Put yourself in the shoes of a new employee and give all your information away as early in the game as possible. The consequences of over sharing are practically nonexistent in contrast to the consequences of under sharing.
Delegate frequently. If you find your available communication time diminishing thanks to the growing pile of work on your desk, prioritize communication and delegate all the work you can to meet that priority.
Hold yourself accountable. Practice transparency and explain to your team that you have difficulty remembering to share information. Ask them to remind you to communicate often. Consider scheduling fifteen minutes after each meeting to make sure all affected parties are “in the know” regarding current and future plans and decisions.
Focus on the strengths of your team. If you recognize that trust is an issue you struggle with, determine to focus on the strengths of your team and regularly remind yourself that it’s your responsibility as a leader to trust your people to do the work they were hired for. Also remember that lack of communication is a greater threat to your company than a security leak. While it is sometimes best to wait to share, those instances are rare.
Introspect. Evaluate your motivational management strategy for withholding or sharing information with your team and journal your progress.