In my 5 Secrets of Impossibly Effective Teams workshops we do an exercise in which participant leaders write a “movie synopsis” for the projects their team is involved in.

The goal is to accurately describe the project in the shortest, simplest language so it can be easily understood by anyone on the team.

Team members will still need Puzzle Box Clarity about the detail and minutiae, but this synopsis is a way of encapsulating what DONE looks like in a way that is intentionally shareable. 

And a funny thing happens as these leaders are crafting these short, punchy summaries: they realize they don’t have the clarity they need to do it well.

The exercise is designed to get them to break the project down to its essence, but that process often reveals that they need more clarity from their own leaders.

Your people will never have more clarity about what DONE looks like than you do.

That makes it incumbent upon you to ask the smart (and “dumb”) questions of those above you to ensure you are crystal clear about what you are asking of your team.

TRY THIS: Ask your people, “Can you describe what DONE looks like for project X in one sentence?” Don’t expect eloquent answers, it’s your job to give them an eloquent synopsis, but pay attention to what they seem sure of and where they seem hesitant. You’ll know exactly where you need to increase clarity pretty quickly.
My free PDF, “The 5 Secrets of Impossibly Effective Teams,” will show you the simple leadership moves that help teams unlock their full potential and deliver outsized results, without burning out. Grab your copy now at geoffwelch.com/secrets