Bill Belichick said this in an interview before his first Patriots camp. He is famous for this philosophy – be prepared; work hard; pay attention to the details; put the team first. There is also a big communication lesson in his philosophy, the essence of which is that a team has to be well coordinated in order to perform well. Everyone has to do what is expected of them, know what everyone else is expected to do, pay attention to other team members, and if something changes communicate well so the team is all on the same page and can execute their jobs.
In business or in Forum, this has huge meaning:
· Communicate the game plan to the team – you cannot blame someone else for dropping the ball if you never told them what the plan was, or if the plan was so complicated no one understood it. If the offense doesn’t know the plan is to run against this team because they have a great pass defense, too many pass plays can lose the game.
· Work the plan (and if you can’t, really make sure everyone knows and owns the changes) – mistakes happen when one person decides to change the plan and does not let anyone else know. Audibles are OK, but only when communicated well. For example, if we have an established procedure for something and someone changes it, even in the name of improvement, without telling others, that often triggers mistakes or at least a long and painful email chain!
· Set expectations for each player – when sending an email or discussing an action item with someone else, if you do not clearly communicate what they are responsible to do and they don’t explicitly take responsibility for those actions, fumbles will happen. If the receiver thinks the play calls for a slant right, but it was supposed to be a slant left, who is at fault when the QB throws it to an empty field? (if you said both you’d be right!)
· Practice the fundamentals – practice makes perfect. The more you practice good communication basics, the better your communication will be.
· Provide immediate feedback – if a mistake or misstep happens, the best time for feedback is right away so it is fresh in everyone’s mind. Don’t forget two important rules for feedback – 1. Only do it in front of the people that have to hear the feedback, not in public. 2. Don’t just say what was wrong, always discuss how to improve. Feedback without ideas for improvement is just criticism (and not the good kind).
“Communication must be HOT. That’s Honest, Open and Two-way.” – Dan Oswald
“Communication works for those who work at it.” – John Powell
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