Have you ever felt that one of your staff isn’t working with urgency? Maybe your entire team? Have you experienced a team that appears not to care if something is done today or tomorrow? You wish they showed more energy or motivation to deliver results?

I recall having a product team that had a strong, familiar culture. The collegial nature of the relationship lead my boss to believe they didn’t care about the results of our work. I tried to engender a fun atmosphere at work. I wanted my team to enjoy working together, while also delivering quality results. My boss saw the friendly atmosphere as potentially missing the hard-driving management he expected.

My first reaction to his feedback was frustration. I wanted him to see that we were delivering fantastic results. I wanted him to realize the positive atmosphere was getting more results than one full of criticism. I give my team the benefit of the doubt that they give their best effort. I was not in a position to tell my boss what to think. Instead, I focused on what I could control.

One of my favorite tactics that reflects “urgency” is to be more specific about what I asked for from my team. I realize that I have a tendency to use informal language such as “by end of day” or “by next week” when asking for something. I changed my language when I asked for a deliverable to specify “by Friday at 5pm.”

Similarly, I ensured that I was clear on the definition of the result I wanted to see. For example, I might have previously asked a technical lead to make a decision by next week. Instead I started defining the behavior I expected, such as “Please send me an e-mail with your decision on what platform we’ll use and the cost by next week Friday at 5pm.”

I had felt comfortable that my informal language conveyed the same intent. My new, more specific language reflected something more rigorous to third-party listeners such as my boss. My specificity helped reduce possible misunderstanding while also reflecting urgency and accountability.

An added benefit, I was able to report goals set and results delivered using the same specific language. The clarity and specificity translates to the listener as rigorous and disciplined. Others form opinions about our team based on their interpretation of our behavior. Take a moment to consider how you can be more specific in your communication, and reflect that same sense of urgency with your team.