Stop Assuming Your Team Understands You

Here's a great little story that Grandma passed on to me in our book, "Grandma's Business Secrets." In the absence of facts, people make up their own. And here's the little drawing. In the absence of facts, people make up their own. In the absence of facts, people make up their own is one of Grandma's sayings that totally applies to running a company. When your team doesn't have clear communication or the full story, they start filling in the blanks with assumptions, and those assumptions are often wrong. That's how rumors start. It's how trust gets shaken, and it's how confusion takes over. And as a leader, it's your job to share the facts openly and often, even when the news isn't perfect. Transparency keeps everyone on the same page, reduces drama, and helps your team stay focused on what really matters instead of wasting time guessing. It's also important to remember that people are busy, they skim. Even though you share something in a Slack or an email, it doesn't mean the message was really received, and it doesn't mean the message was even understood. So ensure that you overcommunicate on key facts so that everybody stays on the same page. Remember, in the absence of facts, people make up their own.