Most people want to feel valued through the opinions of others. They want to feel like their contributions have made a positive difference in the direction being taken by their team. So many conversations are headed towards the right place, but take the long way around when it comes down to it. Keeping a group of people on-task in the most effective and effective way possible is a very hard thing to do. How you strike the balance between allowing each to express themselves while ensuring that the conversation is direct and purposeful is a critical set of skills.
Set very clear purpose and objectives going into a conversation
To be clear on this one, don’t leave anything open-ended. Coming into a team conversation with just a topic of discussion will make it very hard to:
- Keep people on track because all conversation is likely on-topic
- Hard to know when the conversation is done because there is no goal being shared by the team
For even more clarity and confirmation that the team understands what is expected, you can make a standard agenda item at the beginning of every conversation a statement of the purpose and objectives along with asking for anybody’s questions and confirmation that they all understand. Sharing this purpose and objective (e.g. in meeting invites) ahead of time can help the team prepare for the conversation ahead
Don’t let important, but inappropriate information distract the team
The team is coming together to have a working session to solve for a technical design that hasn’t been completed. While having the conversation, one of the Lead Engineers says,
Well, we are going to have a difficult time getting the proper permissions established to support this
While this is a very important aspect to the overall solution, the statement is just floating out there. Is this to say that the solution isn’t feasible? Or it is, this is just a warning to the team. Typically, statements like these are followed up with others just like it that don’t get to the core of the question you are trying to answer, what is the best solution to move forward with? If these other statements are truly important, as a leader you need to acknowledge them (e.g. by capturing them for action later) and reset the team on the question that needs to be answered.
And remember, slow and steady wins the race
Teams won’t get this right the first (few) time(s), so it is important to not be rigid about this from the beginning. Leaders need to let team members stretch their wings, get their thoughts out, but explain and guide the conversation so they understand what and how to stay on point. Being a gradual transition is very important because the consequence of abruptness can also be very significant; team members feeling stifled and not heard will only caused confusion at best and attrition at worst. Progress don’t always have to take a straight path.
Ensuring that your team feels valued is critical for long-term success. Helping them drive action through clear, concise, and direct conversation is also critical for success. As a leader, you must be able to balance both out in order to achieve the maximum potential and keeping your teams on-task and on-point. Good luck!