When your business grows, does clarity grow with it — or fall behind?

[Sarah Skelton]

Afternoon,

I keep seeing the same pattern: clarity issues show up long before anyone calls them “people problems.”

Sometimes it’s expectations that aren’t aligned, sometimes a role quietly expands, sometimes a conversation gets delayed because no one’s sure who owns it.

I’m curious how others here see it.

When your business hits a new stage — growth, change, new tools, new people — what’s the first area where clarity starts to slip? Is it roles, priorities, decision‑making, communication, or something else entirely?

And when things do get messy, how do you bring everything back to a clear, simple path forward?

Would love to hear how others approach this.

 

[Mark T Jones]

Assumption seems to be the biggest issue here

Though for smaller businesses a straightforward sit down chat should straighten things out

It gets far more problematic when the parties fall out. That's where @The Resolver comes in

 

[Sarah Skelton]

Assumption seems to be the biggest issue here

Though for smaller businesses a straightforward sit down chat should straighten things out

It gets far more problematic when the parties fall out. That's where @The Resolver comes in

Absolutely - assumptions are usually where it starts. I have seen the same thing:
when things are going well, people don’t notice the small gaps. It’s only when there’s pressure or a disagreement that those gaps suddenly matter.

What I’m curious about is how businesses spot those early signs before it gets to the “falling out” stage, is there anything you see as missing in your experiance?

 

[DavidAshdown]

Afternoon,

I keep seeing the same pattern: clarity issues show up long before anyone calls them “people problems.”

Sometimes it’s expectations that aren’t aligned, sometimes a role quietly expands, sometimes a conversation gets delayed because no one’s sure who owns it.

I’m curious how others here see it.

When your business hits a new stage — growth, change, new tools, new people — what’s the first area where clarity starts to slip? Is it roles, priorities, decision‑making, communication, or something else entirely?

And when things do get messy, how do you bring everything back to a clear, simple path forward?

Would love to hear how others approach this.

This is exactly it, assumptions don’t feel like a problem at the time, which is why they get missed.

In my experience, it’s rarely one big issue. It’s small gaps that quietly build:
– “I thought you were handling that”
– “I assumed we’d agreed this”
– “I didn’t realise that had changed”

Nothing serious… until it suddenly is.

Where I think most businesses struggle isn’t fixing things once they’ve fallen out, it’s spotting that shift early enough to do something about it.

By the time people are sitting down for a “straightforward chat”, they’re often already frustrated, defensive, or digging into positions. That’s when it gets expensive.

The real question is:
what triggers the conversation before it gets to that point?

Most businesses don’t have anything in place for that, they rely on things “feeling right”… until they don’t.

 

[fisicx]

We have complete clarity. We discuss and consider options and then do what ever it was my wife prefers.

But she does like to think I contribute hence the discussion. Sometimes she even nods at my suggestions.

 

[numbersrule]

The key is for Management to be able to see things from other peoples' points of view, including colleagues, staff, suppliers, insurers and, oh yes, customers and also don't forget to keep in mind the view point of the Tax Man.

If the people at the top can see all those points of view then it is usually possible to spot things before they go awry.

 

[lmkeller14]

Roles can stay the same on paper, but as the business grows, decisions become more layered and people hesitate because it’s no longer obvious who has the final say. That’s when delays and misalignment start showing up. Reset expectations regularly and make decision ownership explicit again.

 

[JEREMY HAWKE]

The two things I consider is
1) Does the growth effect the customer
2) Does the growth effect profitability

Number 1 is the most important . As a small business in a mostly rural area I try to be the customer face on the phone email and where I can in person
This concept has now been useful for decades but when it did expand for a brief period this side of the business suffered as the way I did things and interact was not being replicated in the way that the customers were used to . This is a good example of losing clarity and in an area where losing clarity can not happen at any cost

In hindsight this can be overcome with training and simply a monkey see monkey do learning system of learning next to people that have been doing it !
This can now be easier using AI videos and sales check list APPS for the new sales /customer link

Number 2 A period of expansion will always effect profitability and often a small business taking a small step will take years to run back into decent profit often due to there not being enough money in the business to train key people and not enough money to take on extra management staff
Look around any industrial estate or business zone and many of the companies growth would be stifled by this very problem

 

[The Resolver]

The key is for Management to be able to see things from other peoples' points of view

Each fully understanding the view of the other is key. In shareholder mediation I would usually ask a key question and after the reply I would follow up to ask "'if I was talking in private to (the other party) how do you think they would answer this question"

In this increasingly digital age and in which people make/announce decisions remotely to each/all other(s) and form business partnerships with people they don't really know (met at a business network meeting/investment searching etc) going out of their way to fix a regular (monthly?) in-person meeting should be a firm discipline (and fixed in the Shareholders Agreement).

I have mentioned previously that my survey of 500 small limited companies shows over 70% without a Shareholders Agreement, Filling that gap is the first step to limit disagreement

 

[1emma19]

When the team is small everyone intuitively knows who handles what, but as soon as more people join those informal assumptions collide. What helps is separating what's urgent from what's important in team communication, growth stages collapse those two categories together and that's where priorities blur.

 

[WaveJumper]

As the saying goes AITMOAFU as all good movie buffs will know "Assumption is the mother of all f***ups"
Any good leader / business manager etc should always have in the back of their mind acting on unverified information will lead to major failures

You must have a clear plan in place to achieve specific goals, people need to be clear on the plan and there must be clear two way communication making sure you as a leader ask the right questions.

Never ever assume

 

[lmkeller14]

I agree with this completely. Like in my area in regulatory work (multiple requirements, documentation, and external parties are involved) one small assumption can lead to non-compliance or delays that are much harder to fix later on.

 

[Sarah Skelton]

Roles can stay the same on paper, but as the business grows, decisions become more layered and people hesitate because it’s no longer obvious who has the final say. That’s when delays and misalignment start showing up. Reset expectations regularly and make decision ownership explicit again.

I agree, but how do we spot these gaps that are forming before they impact growth and the customer? communication is key, which we know but is there a form of rigour required?

 

[GLAbusiness]

The problems start when the business reaches the size where people with different skills operate in silos. It is important to recognise silos and put in place an overall "architect" to ensure all are on the same page