Getting Water to the End of the Row

One of my mentors always says, “You need to make sure you are getting the water to the end of the row.” This was a favorite phrase of there especially when we are in leadership meetings. The point is, although those in attendance at the meeting need to learn the information being presented, it was just as important for us to take the information to those we manage so they can have the information as well.

I have always loved the simplicity and the great imagery this saying brings up every time I hear them say use the expression. In farming, it is just as important for the plants at the end of the row to receive water as it is for the plant at the start of the row. If for some reason the plants at the end of the row stopped receiving water, they would stop growing, and eventually, they would die.

From a business perspective, we are not going to have anyone die from not getting any information, although as we begin to hold information from people in the company, like the plants at the end of the row, they are going to stop growing and helping the rest of the company because they are not going to have any information. Eventually, if it gets too bad some of these people may get fed up with the leadership not passing the information and will just leave the company for another opportunity where they can grow.

There are two key actions I do when it comes to getting the information down the row.

Plan Team Meetings Close to End of Management Meetings

The easiest way I have found to ensure I am getting the information out to everyone on my teams is to set up a team meeting either right after or no more than two days after I have my management meetings. The quicker I can have this meeting with my team, the more I can make sure I have all of the right information when it is still new. If I delay too long, I have found I will either run the risk of thinking I have told my team when I have not or worse, will start mixing up information from other meetings I might have attended.

There are times when I get called into an unplanned meeting so I have not had time to set up a meeting with my team. In these cases, depending on what we learned in our leadership meeting I will call an impromptu meeting with my team to get them as much information as I can.

Water Flows Both Ways, Up and Down the Row

Since I know I am going to be presenting this material soon to my team, not only will I pay closer attention to what is going on in the meeting so I can make sure I have all of the details correct I will try to anticipate some of the questions my team has and will try to get them answered before I meet with my team. If I know the agenda of the meeting, I may even meet with a couple of team members beforehand and ask them what questions they have regarding the topic.

As I have been able to incorporate this practice it has helped my team feel like they are a reactionary team, only doing what they are told, to being a more proactive team. Then they have a stake in what the company is working on and are more bought into the plan because they were part of shaping the direction.

In the end, sensitive information does need to be treated as such, and this needs to stay with the appropriate parties. However, it is important to make sure your teams are getting all of the information they need to help them with their jobs. This is where it is important for us as leaders to ensure we are “getting the water to the end of the row.”

Originally published at https://briancchristensen.com on November 22, 2022.