Here’s a SUPER simple tip that I learned from a mentor who is an ex-Navy Seal, who has now been in the business world for many years and is an absolute machine. He brought over all this Navy Seal discipline and habit-building to the way he does business, and it’s produced some really great tactical advice. The “repeat-back” is an easy habit that helped me smooth out communications and expectations with my bosses. It also just makes you sound like you’re on top of your shit and can drive things forward. This sets you up to be a leader who can project manage and handle people.
I haven’t been to Navy Seal training, so I can’t confirm if this is a standard practice. But what my mentor shared is that he would always repeat back the commands he was given so that he could show that he had heard the commands, was ready to carry them through on time, and would report back to his superiors.
It’s so transferable to the workplace – what you want to do is repeat back what you heard at the end of a conversation. This clarifies everyone’s commitments. Use this tip in 1-1 conversations. Always clarify what you’re going to move forward on and in what time frame. Think about whether there are any remaining pieces of the project that haven’t been addressed yet.
For context
Sometimes when people are brainstorming or having lengthy discussions, they make general agreements or agree to table the topic, and then adjourn – but actual next steps and responsible parties are fuzzy. I’ve been in countless meetings where everyone thought we had reached an agreement on our strategy and next steps, but we neglected to get granular with it. Leaving meetings in this way usually leads to missteps, confusion, and twice the work.
Examples of Repeat-Back
- To a manager on another team: “Okay, that was a really helpful brainstorm. Sounds like we’re aligned on the vision and aesthetic. I will look into our allocated budget and circulate a campaign strategy overview by the end of the week. And, it sounded like you planned to inform the merchandising team and the photographers about this upcoming project by Friday morning. Does that all sound right?”
- To a peer: “Nice – thanks for talking through this together! I know I mentioned that I have bandwidth to take on the pitch deck, and I heard you say that you could handle the marketing budget forecast. Lauren, our manager, let me know that she wants to see all of our materials by the end of the week. Does that work for you?”
- To your boss: “This summary on the performance metrics for our holiday campaign sounds like a priority. I will talk to the paid media team and the ecommerce team to get the numbers, and then send you an outline for the summary by the end of the week. Does that work for you?”
Try it out! Hope this helps 😀
