Timing really is everything

The other day I wrote about giving constructive feedback to a vendor (read about that here). There was a specific vendor relationship I was thinking about when I posted that. I remember that at the time that issue was going on I had mentioned to a coworker who also worked with this group that I was going to do this. The afternoon the day of when I planned to do so I remember he asked me how the conversation went. I told him that I decided to wait to have it another time. I explained that when I was speaking with our account manager she seemed frazzled and I suspected that the feedback might not be fully heard and therefore would be less productive for me, her, and the whole team. I told my coworker I had decided to wait even if it meant the feedback would be delivered later that day or the next or the next week.

I remember my coworker nodding then mentioning an article he had read about common mistakes people make early on in their career. One was misjudging the situation and delivering feedback or simply sending an email or asking a question too quickly or at the wrong time. He said he was still guilty of this at times and often finds himself sending an email just to get it out rather than taking a moment to think about whether his audience is in the right mental state to receive it.

I think this is common. Oftentimes people simply kick the ball back over the fence just to keep it moving. Sure, at times you do just need to get something out if it’s urgent but often it's important and helpful to take five and wait.

I'm guilty of it too, I just try to be aware of it and manage it. What do I do? Well I walk through a few key things:

1.       I try to think about what I need out of the communication or conversation.

2.      Then I consider if the one person or the group will be able to give me input best via email, a quick call or meeting, or maybe a quick face-to-face chat.

3.      Once I decide the best method of communicate I consider timing since as they say, timing really is everything. For instance sending an email at 4:40pm on a Friday is something I rarely do. For me I'm much more likely to get a response if I hold off and wait until9:45am the following Monday.

4.      If I have insight to a person's calendar be it her travel schedule, meeting or workload for the day, and even things like whether or not she likes to work through lunch or tends to go to the gym or run errands I will hold off on communications until I know she's in the best mindset possible.

Simple stuff but in my experience it all makes a big difference!

I'm building a team from scratch: what I've learned thus far

Recently I've stood up a culture team for my company. Not going to lie, it's pretty cool, I'm pretty proud of myself, and easily one of the most fulfilling things I've ever worked on, but more on that another time.

I've been learning a ton from this leadership experience. Again, more on that another time. For now it seemed timely to share something that I've come to realize over my years in a corporate setting and this experience has validated: How important sometimes seemingly insignificant things really are.

What do I mean?

Well in the past I've seen some fallout, or at the very least missed opportunities, due to coworkers, leaders, business partners, whatever, assuming that sharing some info or taking some action was trivial, insignificant, or unnecessary. I've seen team leaders not hold regular meetings since they thought it wasn't important. Wrong. I've also seen leaders not offer regular updates because not everything was declared or "figured out" yet. Wrong.

It's easy to think that things are just not all that important, or get bogged down in our day-to-day and not offer regular, meaningful updates. But this creates distance, confusion, and ultimately disinterest and resentment.

So what's gone on in my culture team that has got me thinking about this? Well probably the one thing that I thought was the most insignificant and redundant to explain was the lexicon I was using with the group. I mean the names of the team, sub-teams, things of that nature.

I felt like I was constantly saying the same thing but really each time I would re-articulate something I could see -- or hear over the phone -- the light switches turn in a team-member's brain. It's funny, it really has seemed like these little things end up being the most helpful and important to understand.

So what should you do? When do you do this? And who should do this?

What: Rather than assuming that your team, peers, anyone really already knows something, opt to over-communicate. Sure you don't want to flood inboxes with emails but try offering a quick caveat acknowledging that you *might* be at risk of telling them something they already know.

When: Anytime you think you have information someone else needs. Or when you are concerned that a group not understanding something will impact a project, deadline, etc.

Who: Anyone who has information that is not, but should be, well-known. But how can you tell? I'd think that if this post resonates with you, you probably fall into this camp.

Happy leading, happy communicating, and more to come about what else I'm learning from this experience!