Four things I say a lot to my team and what they really mean

Those around Sabisu are used to hearing me say;

1. 'Tell me what you need'

Nothing's worse than screwing up when it could have been avoided. I hate the phrase, 'if only'.

If we're about to lose a sale because we don't have a one page summary describing how great Sabisu is for supply-chain collaboration, then it would be nuts not to ask for it. 

Equally, if a customer needs to know why we've gone with functionality A and not B, or any other difficult question, then put them straight through to someone who can help; clear the decks.

Delegate upwards so those at the sharp end can focus on what they need to do.

2. 'Show me what you've done'

I see this as pretty close to Terry Leahy shopping in his own Tesco stores, or a chef working the pass; it's all about checking the quality. It says in Rework: everything is marketing. So everything has to be high quality.

By constantly reviewing what the team is doing, you don't need to check what the team is doing as much in the future; they'll get used to the possibility of a review and up their game to meet a higher standard.

For me, this is nothing more than the 'test first' approach of, say Extreme Programming, or the 'go to production early' approach of any agile methodology extended backwards into the pre-production lifecycle. Get it in front of the customer early to prevent defects being found expensively late in the development cycle.

3. 'Good job.'

Or 'nice one'. Or 'thanks'. 

(Or 'good stuff'. Or 'rocking'. Or 'awesome'.)

Being enthusiastic. Saying thanks a lot. It's just the right thing to do.

4. 'Riiiiiight...?'

Never smack down an idea until you're absolutely sure that (i) it's been expressed fully, (ii) you understand it, and (iii) you understand its implications. 

I suppose it's about pre-judging an idea. It's easy to do - particularly when you're tired, the kids are playing up at home and the dog has developed a horrific bowel ailment or whatever, but I try to remember that the guys in the office are great at what they do and most of the time their ideas are good.

So, 'Riiiiight?' really means 'tell me more'. They get that.