So, how can you help employees make good decisions? What do they need to know?
Well, they need to know where they are going. You don’t want random paddling. So, please take every opportunity to talk about where we are going and what the next step is – for the company and for the team.

When employees are only expected to get-the-job-done, they only need information about what they need to reach their goal. But when the company is in rapid development, the direction of progress is more important than the exact target. And when people explore, they will need to know a lot more about things outside their everyday tasks.

That’s why we package information for everyone about strategy and gross margin, and why we invite to meeting & sharing with people from different countries. Understanding other functions and markets is good for creativity and improves chances that our exploring becomes useful all over NCAB.

Still, your team also needs to hear it from you. Most people need help understanding how their efforts bring value to customers, and how to best contribute to NCAB’s development. How often do you talk about that with your team? Help them connect the dots – what are we trying to achieve locally and globally?

One way to start such a conversation is to discuss priorities. It’s especially useful in a time-crunch, or during a change project, to get a common view of what the priorities are, and why.

A tool you might find helpful is the Eisenhower matrix, after the American president who made it famous in the 1950s. The purpose is to think clearly when there is a lot to do, and it can be done individually or as a team. This is the team version:

A task can be more or less important, and it can also be more or less urgent. Our nervous brains trick us into believing that these two are the same, but they are not. So, you place your tasks into these four corners:

Things that are important and urgent, of course you do them, no question. But things that are urgent, but less important that all of you do, they go to this corner, to be delegated to someone, inside or outside the team – maybe a supplier.

This is a corner you don’t want to lose sight of – important but less urgent; it’s so easy to let these things slide. This is where you think, explore, and prepare for the future. Eisenhower says to decide when to do this, make an appointment with yourselves, and keep it. Some of your most valuable work will be done here – if you allow yourselves the time. If you do, that may lead to less urgent work in the long run, or that your team is better prepared to handle it.

And finally, this corner – with some luck you’ll find things here that no one needs to do. What a relief!

So, in a level up culture, people need to know the direction of progress. They need more information, more contacts around the company, and a better grip on priorities. Don’t allow everything to end up in the fire-extinguisher corner.