Have you ever sent a message that solved one problem and created another?
A deadline slips, a customer concern escalates, or someone asks a question you thought you’d already answered. And, because you have a full plate (with appropriate overflow!), what do you do? You respond quickly then spend the next afternoon explaining what you meant.
You may have had a valid concern, message, or point yet the way you expressed it made that it harder to address.
In the first two newsletters of this E.P.I.C. series, we explored Excellence and Presence: agreeing on what our best looks like together and giving teammates the attention they need.
This week is about Intentionality:
How do we respond with purpose rather than letting urgency determine our words and actions?
Helping teams communicate, make decisions, and execute together better under pressure is the focus of my work. Part of that is making sure the way we respond helps the team move forward, rather than giving everyone something else to recover from.
Here are three ways to become more intentional with your team and as a team:
No. 1 Decide what you want your response to accomplish
Imagine a teammate misses an important handoff, leaving you scrambling before a customer meeting.
You might want them to understand how frustrating that was yet you also need to find out what happened, recover the work, and prevent a repeat.
Those are different goals and the way you open that conversation matters!
“Why does this keep happening?” starts a different conversation than, “We missed the handoff, and it affected the customer meeting. Let’s walk through what happened and where the plan went off course.”
Notice the last sentence is not focused on the person – it’s focused on the process.
Before your next difficult conversation, ask yourself:
“What do I need this conversation to accomplish?”
Let that answer guide how you begin.
No. 2 Make your urgency useful
“ASAP” might express how you feel, but it doesn’t tell someone what to do with the three other urgent requests already on their desk.
If you need the revised proposal by 2P then say so. Explain what decision depends on it and address what can move if the person needs to change priorities.
Think about a crew chief communicating an adjustment during a race. The useful message is the one that helps the team understand what needs to happen next.
Before sending your next urgent request, check whether it answers:
- What needs to happen?
- By when and why?
- What should take priority if there’s a conflict?
You can move quickly and still give people enough clarity to act.
No. 3 Notice what you bring into the next conversation
Put it to work this week
- Establish what happened before assigning blame.
- Explain the impact and what needs attention now.
- Make a clear request, including ownership and timing.
- Return to the underlying issue once the immediate pressure eases.