Recently, I was rightfully called out by one of my peers for not communicating a decision impacting a critical project out through the organization. She had every right to call me out on the lack of communication. It was my error and I could do nothing but agree with her and acknowledge the failure. I like to pride myself on the fact that have strong communication skills and working relationships with my peers, and so I take this one personally. There are many excuses that I could use - I'm too busy as we move several key projects into production ahead of our year end production freeze; the Project Manager should have communicated that out to the team. Ultimately, I made the decision and I had the responsibility to communicate the decision across the organization - especially when that decision was going to put pressure on other teams across the organization.
This is not unique to myself. As I began to explore at the beginning of this post, too often I look at the root cause of an issue and it all goes back to someone knew and didn't think to share that knowledge.
I recognize that some of this is human nature. In the heat of the moment, decisions will be made that we believe will move the process forward and get the entire organization closer to the end goal. While that may be the case - follow-up is critical. Let's face it, we've all sat on the receiving end of some decision that made our lives miserable. We've had to deal with the fallout when that information comes at the last minute. I will be the first one to step up and call someone out when they do that to myself or one of my teams - it's only fair that I take the feedback when I'm the one causing the problem.
To allow this type of honest feedback - you need to be willing to trust the teams you work with on a daily basis:
- Your direct reports
- Your peers within your supervisors team
- Your peers across the organization with whom you deal with on a daily basis
This book leads you through a scenario of how a group of individuals that didn't work or trust each other was transformed into a highly functional team.
I was first introduced to this book, by my current boss - our CIO. It was the first thing that he wanted me to read after I was hired. In fact, he sent it to me before I even officially started. It is now one of my favorite books. I in turn have required all of my direct reports to read the book. I encourage my team to be honest with each other and to hold each other accountable in their daily interactions.
We have been hired for a purpose. We are here to make a difference, to move the ball forward. That means holding ourselves and others accountable for the deliverables that people throughout the organization rely on so that they can do their job. We must open ourselves up to others, understand the story that is driving their actions and be prepared to receive open and honest feedback when we fail to live up to our commitments.
Don't get me wrong - this isn't a directive for you to walk around the building pointing fingers at people and telling them they're not doing the job - chances are if you did you'd have a line of people at your desk telling you that you didn't do your job. What you should do is be willing to engage in a positive open communication. Explain what you are seeing - you may not have a full understanding of the situation and be prepared to change the direction of the conversation based on what you hear. If the person truly is responsible for failing to deliver, than it's up to you to find a positive way to work with the person and manage the situation. Help them help you!
If you'd like more information on my background: LinkedIn Profile
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