I often see brilliant ideas start off with great momentum only to stall out due to team conflict, overwhelm or lack of clarity on the final steps needed to get the project over the finish line.
While we can never control the responses of others, we can create an environment of high performers who feel free to raise their concerns about a project plan before launch.
You can eliminate bad ideas and get good ideas to take hold when you harness the diversity, creativity and talent of the team using the 5Cs of our Alignment process.
Raising Concerns helps the team identify risk factors that may delay a proposed idea or initiative and allows the team to raise their opinions in a systematic and constructive way.
Concerns are not criticisms or complaints.
Concerns come from a caring frame of mind which the 3-4-5 framework of Alignment elicits in everyone.
Permission to share Concerns creates psychological safety which breeds trust and solution focus.
Expressing Concerns allows for doubts and reservations to be addressed that might lead to a proposal’s rejection or prevent complete commitment.
The possibility of “no” should always be a part of your group’s process of reaching a final decision.
As Peter Block says in his book, Community: The Structure of Belonging, “If you can’t say no, your yes means nothing.”
Always give your team a chance to express objections. This is the only way they can clarify how the proposal might impact their area of work.
Knowing Concerns allows you to address them before taking action and before it’s too late into the project.
Sometimes leaders don’t want to invite Concerns because they fear doing so might undermine their credibility or expose vulnerabilities in their proposal.
However, the exact opposite happens.
When you encourage people to fully express Concerns, you show them that their opinions are valued.
And when they feel valued, they take ownership of the project and want to be a part of its completion.
Plus, they value you in return as a trusted and inclusive leader and this goes a long way to building a high performing team that is on fire to see a project through to completion.
Stay Aligned and Inclusive!