Communicate.

Communication can be a liability or a strength. How well does your organization or team communicate? Football teams use huddles to gather the players together during a game so that each player knows exactly what play will be next and understands his particular assignment. If you and your coworkers formed a company football team, how well would you communicate with one another? Would your teammates be standing around in a huddle, arguing about what the next play should be or who ought to get the ball?

Most of us have tried to save time by giving employees a hurried set of instructions concerning a job task, only to realize later on that we should have taken more time to adequately explain the plan to them. Did we learn anything from those experiences? When was the last time you actually huddled with your team? Perhaps a team huddle to communicate the plan, roles, and responsibilities is a good idea for the workplace, as well as on the football field. Schedule regular meetings, conference calls, e-mail messages, and interactive forums so that everyone stays well informed.

Leadership Questions

  How often do you take the time to meet with your team to communicate important information about a plan of action or a current project?

  Think about those times when you didn’t huddle with your team and there were major consequences. How would a huddle have helped?

  Where and when can you quickly meet with your team to improve communication?