Alignment

Highlight the obvious

“The obvious needs to be highlighted”. An old boss used to say this to me almost daily. He was right.

Many times it’s frustrating when you enter a meeting assuming that everyone there it’s on the same page; that means that everyone has read the report, made notes, the goals for the meeting are clear, or even that the meeting it’s supposed to be a total waste (but everyone knows).

If being in alignment with a pair it’s already tricky, imagine with a small, medium or large team. Imagine the whole damn company. So there’s this need on being clear with things, straight to the point, cutting the chase.

“But Gui, I don’t like to repeat myself”, you would think. I don’t know a single person who likes to repeat themselves, and at the same time, communication it’s one of the main factors in which a project fails (in my experience). Please write down the obvious things, highlight them in each document, put them in each header, and make sporadic announcements.

Not everyone will make the effort, I know. But what can we do to shorten the distance, to close the gap? Being clear’s also being kind to your peers, giving more than you’re entitled to.

So give it a try. Be obvious, fully clear.

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