Is your team clear on the result?

You are a general of the army, and you are ready to win the war. You have this grand vision in your head. You’ve split your army into Team A (you) and Team B. You have the idea that Team B is going to attack the enemy from the right side. And Team A will attack from the left side.

Team A is scheduled to attack the enemy from the left. But when you get there, you notice that Team B is already there in your position!

Why?

Yes, you told Team B what you wanted. But you didn’t make it 100% clear to them why they should be on the right.Now you have your entire army on the left side, which makes the area easy to defend.

Mistakes like this happen daily. Because each person will always have a different idea of how to get something done. As much as you assume that the other person understands, you must always verify. No matter their skill level or experience. It never hurts to check.

Better yet, give them only a small piece of the project to handle. That way you can quickly test to see if they understand your thinking. With the ability to communicate instantly, you have no excuse not to be on the same page.

Is your team clear on the result?