Within a team – whether you’re five people or 500 – bad communication is often the top reason for things to fall apart.
If you can communicate better you can operate better.
But it’s extremely easy to under-communicate. To assume that everyone knows the plan, everyone knows the reason we exist, everyone knows the pricing, everyone knows the roadmap, everyone knows the mistakes you’ve made and the lessons you’ve learnt from them.
But in reality, most people on the team don’t know the same information. They probably have far fewer things clear in their heads.
If you’re in a position of leadership then you’re probably in a position of immense power to communicate more, and to communicate better, with your team.
I’ve made this mistake too many times – to assume everyone “gets it”. To not repeat what you feel is already obvious.
But what you think is obvious as a leader may be clear as mud to some on your team – especially if they’ve just joined your company.
Communicate the big and important stuff clearly. Communicate frequently. Then make it clearer. And then communicate it again some more.
Communicate the same thing over and over and over until it’s painful to repeat it again.
It’s extremely hard to over-communicate as a leader. And the risks of under-communicating far outweighs the risks of over-communicating.