As a team leader, don't ever, ever say stuff like:
"I think the explanations above are enough" or "I think that this task is now clear enough" or "This is a trivial task, it doesn't need any more explanations". Especially if the task mentioned is new for the unfortunate guy that get's to hear/read those words.
And you know why you shoud not say that? Well, here's how that can be interpreted by the person reading them:
- I really don't want to spend more time explaining this
- Although I'm saying the task is clear, I don't think I explained it well enough, and I just don't want tobe bothered for more details
- My time is more important that yours, so I will not spend the extra time to make sure you really, REALLY know what you have to do
If you want to build a team, well, way to go there! Might as well tell the guy "You suck!". Or better, "I suck as a leader". You don't know if the person in front of you understood. And if you have a feeling that your explanations were vague (and trust me, you know when you're being vague) then tell the person: "I think this is not actually enough, I need more time to prepare a better requirement/functional spec/design document\". And even better, "If there are questions, feel free to contact me, I'll make some time to explain it". But never, ever shut off the communication channels to the people you lead. Because that's the effect of those first three sentences.
I hope we're clear on that ;)
