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Estimated reading time: 5 minutes
Whether you’ve inherited a non-negotiable decision or are planning to implement one yourself, communicating it properly is a top priority.
As engineering leaders, we often find ourselves in the position of having to communicate mandates — that is, non-negotiable decisions that have been made. Despite being collaborative, consensus-driven leaders, we may still need to convey these mandates to our teams.
Mandates essentially come from two places:
- Top-down: These are decisions made by higher management or stakeholders that we have no control over. They may be strategic, financial, or operational in nature.
- Ourselves: Sometimes, we may want to make decisions that we believe are in the best interest of the team or organization, and they are not open for discussion. This could be due to time constraints, urgency, or the need to move focus in a different direction.
Getting to the “why”
Often, the biggest challenge in communicating mandates is helping the team understand the reasoning behind them. This is crucial for buy-in and acceptance, even if they disagree with the decision itself.
Let’s assume that the mandate is to move the team to a new front-end framework because the company has decided to standardize on it. Before communicating anything, your first job is to understand why this decision was made. If you are setting the mandate yourself, you should ideally already know the reasoning, but if it’s a top-down decision, you may need to seek detailed talking points from those making it. You can do this by gathering context using the following questions:
- What problem is this mandate trying to solve?
- What are the anticipated long-term benefits of it?
- How does it align with the company’s strategic goals?
- What alternatives were considered, and why was this particular path chosen?
- What are the risks of not following this mandate?
Once you’ve got this information together, you can start to think about how to frame the message to your team.
Framing the message
When communicating a mandate, it’s important to frame the message in a way that is clear, concise, and empathetic. With the context you’ve gathered, transform it into a narrative that will land well:
- Focus on the team’s perspective: Instead of starting with “Management has decided…”, frame it in terms of what it means for the team. How will it change their daily work, projects, or goals?
- Highlight the benefits: Find the upside for the team. Even if the mandate is inconvenient, does it offer new learning opportunities, improved processes, and will it position the team for future success?
- Connect it to larger goals: Explain how this mandate aligns with the company’s vision or strategic objectives. This helps the team see the bigger picture and understand their role in it.
- Emphasize what they can control: Acknowledge that while the mandate is non-negotiable, there are still aspects of their work that they can influence. Encourage them to focus on those areas.
- Use clear and concise language: Avoid jargon or overly technical terms that may confuse the team. Be straightforward about what the mandate is and what it requires from them.
You’re not trying to sugarcoat the situation, nor are you trying to trick the team into agreeing with the mandate. Instead, you’re highlighting the necessity of the decision and how they will play a role in its implementation.
How you communicate the message will depend on your context and the dynamics of your team. You might choose to do this in a team meeting, through written communication, or even 1:1 conversations if the mandate is particularly sensitive. Use your judgment to determine the best approach.
One important aspect is that you must fully stand behind the mandate when communicating it, even if you disagree with it. As a leader, your role is to support the team in understanding and implementing the decision, not to undermine it by expressing your own doubts or disagreements. Depending on your relationship with the team, it may be appropriate to acknowledge your own reservations, but this should be done in such a way that does not discredit the mandate itself.
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Acknowledging disagreement
Even if you’ve framed the message well, it’s likely that some team members will disagree with the mandate. This is natural and should be expected. In fact, it’s a great opportunity to encourage open dialogue and feedback. You should acknowledge disagreement transparently, but also guide the conversation in a constructive direction.
- Validate concerns: If your team expresses concerns or frustrations, acknowledge them. Tell them that you hear them and that you understand their feelings.
- Lean into the why: Reiterate the reasoning behind the mandate that you gathered earlier. By focusing on the logical reasons for the decision, you can help the team understand the bigger picture.
- Commit to execution: Follow any reservations with a clear statement of your commitment to executing the mandate. Ensure the team knows that you are fully behind the decision and that you will support them in its implementation.
- Focus on the bigger picture: Remind the team of the larger goals and objectives that this mandate supports. This can help them see past their immediate frustrations, if they have them.
- Avoid “us vs. them” language: Ensure that you do not side so much with the team that you create the appearance of a divide between them, you, and the decision-makers. Instead, position yourself as a bridge between the two, helping to facilitate understanding and implementation.
This is a fine line to walk, but it’s important to maintain your role as a leader with empathy for the team’s feelings. You want to create an environment where they feel heard, but also one where they understand that the mandate is not up for debate.
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Moving forward
Once the mandate has been communicated, it’s important to focus on moving forward. Depending on the nature of the mandate, this may involve daily or weekly check-ins, setting up a task force to implement it, or simply providing ongoing support to the team as they adjust to the new direction.
Make sure that you revisit the mandate in 1:1 conversations in order to allow team members to express any ongoing concerns or frustrations individually that they may not have felt comfortable voicing in a group setting. This can help you gauge the team’s sentiment and address any lingering issues.
Finally, be open to feedback on how you delivered the mandate itself. After some time has passed, consider asking the team for their thoughts on how the communication went and if there are ways you could improve in the future. This not only helps you grow as a leader but also shows the team that you are committed to continually improving as a leader.
