Jay Rahman

Understand the strategic vision that drives your boss's goals and the key results that demonstrate clear achievement of those objectives. Ask questions to understand the overall context, the risks, assumptions, resources and dependencies that afffect achievement. This will help you to understand the challenges your boss faces and must overcome to build success. Align your activities to support their goals and work diligently to achieve them.

Ensure your development practices bake quality in from the start and you won’t have to worry about the trade off. At no point should we be thinking about releasing poor quality work- the consequences in terms of waste and remediation grow exponentially. Instead, Our standards should be so strong and so well executed that we should be genuinely surprised when quality issues arise. Avoid the trade off trap.

Once we get past any emotional challenges and people feel heard and understood, we can move onto generating viable solutions. Where possible we want involve all stakeholders in generating viable solutions that achieve common goals - this is where we can be surprised around the inventiveness and ingenuity of our colleagues

To seek alignment between two parties, start by identifying shared goals to establish a cooperative foundation. Parties usually have positive intentions so work hard to uncover these and help others see them. As previously mentioned practice active listening to understand their needs and perspectives, and communicate your own clearly and openly. Ask open-ended questions to deepen discussions and uncover new possibilities. Highlight how solutions can benefit both sides and be willing to compromise to meet mutual needs. Aim for win-win scenarios wherever possible or aim for common outcomes that mitigate individual challenges amicably

Some excellent approaches to open communication build on the principle of seeking first to understand. - Active Listening means understanding your colleague's thoughts, challenges, and insights and being attentive to not just hearing their words but also non-verbal cues and emotions. - Ask open-ended questions to encourage the other person to reveal more information and find potential solutions. - Pausing strategically after making a point or asking a question can lead to more thoughtful and thorough responses. Finally, summarizing the conversation to ensure both parties understand each other's points and that no important details are overlooked.

As a leader, it's not only important to understand the various issues at play but also to demonstrate understanding. Usually, conflicting parties want to be heard and understood. When we as leaders understand and demonstrate understanding to our colleagues, we can: * Build Trust - acknowledging others' perspectives thereby creating trust. * Reduce Defensiveness - Understanding reduces defensive behaviour and encourages open dialogue. * Facilitate Communication: People are likely to share openly and honestly when they feel understood. * Enhances Problem Solving: Knowing the real issues at stake allows for more effective solutions. * De-escalates Conflict- Validating feelings can cool tensions and shift focus to a solution focus.