An Effective Operations Team Requires Transparency

Why is transparency so important?  It builds trust and credibility, both requirements for effective leadership.  
It means free from deceit and characterized by visibility and accessibility to important and relevant information.  We all can identify some prominent companies and individuals that have demonstrated a lack of transparency.  ​


                                              Some examples include:

​                    Volkswagen                 Fraudulent emission testing
                        British Petroleum         Lack of accountability in oil spill
​                        Scott Thompson          Ex-Yahoo CEO. Lied about degree on resume
​                        Lance Armstrong         Lied about taking sports enhancement drugs

​The Operations team plays a very important role to foster transparency as “trusted advisors” to the decision makers of an organization.   We are looked upon to provide accurate analysis, data driven recommendations, and honest feedback.

To foster transparency, there are 5 rules for Operational leaders to follow:

1)       Be truthful about the business
          Don’t lie, communicate half-truths, or sit on relevant information.
2)       Be forthright with problems and risks
          Communicate issues on a timely basis. Problems do not age well like wine.
3)       Provide business opinions based on data driven analysis and sound judgement
          Avoid recommendations based on strictly intuition. Earn the title of “trusted advisor”.
4)       Provide accurate, relevant and critical business information.
           It is very difficult to make decisions without free flowing information.
5)       Be accessible  
          Don’t be invisible. Be relevant. Be credible.  

​The Operations team has a unique opportunity to foster a culture of transparency and help build a trustworthy and credible organization. 
                                                        
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