Some subjects are off topic within an organization.
The team environment is not a space for digesting personal problems or issues.
For instance if one of your team members goes through a tough time at home with their partner, you don’t have to solve that for them.
You are a manager, entrepreneur or business owner, not a therapist.
It is much better to get them to seek external professional help rather than trying to solve these issues yourself.
Now, for anything else that concerns your business, dialogue and communication are keys!
When you ask, usually people want to share what they know or feel!
They might have precious inklings you should know about, things they heard or information they just discovered.
Ask and listen!
Give them space to share what they know.
The best is to do that weekly within a short business meeting.
You come together at least once a week and everyone knows they will be given a chance to share important information they might have.
You create non formal dialogue as well any time you can.
The key is to get information to circulate as freely as possible.
Information is power!
You know that!
The number one reason why people tend to lock in precious information is because they want to monopolize power.
Don’t fall into that trap and get people to share what they know!