5 Things Team Should Stop Saying

Every day I am fortunate enough to get to work with a team of very intelligent and driven individuals (not all of them but some special people that I do really appreciate their devotion and they know themselves). I spend almost all my time sitting with them on the same table and we build great things, and "sometimes: we also drive each other a little crazy.

There is plenty of phenomenal professional growth advice out there for them. But what about all the small things we say and do? All the things that slowly drive us crazy. All the things that make us good, but never great in "someone’s" eyes. I’ve tried to list a few that I’ve picked up over the years. So, here are 5 things I think you team should stop saying:

1.    “I haven’t had the time” – more often than not this is simply not true. Normally it’s either

A) you technically could have found the time (so you had it), but didn’t feel like spending that time doing it.

B) you didn’t manage your work-time very well.

C) you forgot. Even if you feel like you haven’t had the time, explain when or if it can be expected, not why it has not been.

2.    “That’s not my responsibility” – it’s a narrow minded and egocentric approach to work. If it’s not your area of expertise, or your job to get it done, then help facilitate that connection. At the end of the day we’re all responsible.

3.    “But I sent it in an email a week ago” – if something requires follow-up or if information is needed for the other party to perform their duties, you are responsible for the communication working. Letting something or someone fail because you have “an out” is common, but not something great people do.

4.    “Integration is super-easy, it takes five minutes” – following an operational pitch is easy, but selling the idea of it with conviction is incredibly hard. Everything doesn’t have to be “super easy”. If you convince me that it’s worth doing, I’ll do it. Very few things take five minutes, certainly not things worth doing.

5.    “And after that, it just runs” – anyone that has ever operated a business knows too well that nothing “just runs”. Whether you're selling an idea internally or a product externally; show your audience that you understand the impact it will have on operations.

I hope my team will be reading this and will be learning what’s in between the lines. I feel there depression and I fell them down. I feel some pain around and I’m taking this in a serious manner to be fixed.

Maybe my promised cake invitation will do…