Most teams fall short because they don’t pair structured problem-solving with clear communication.
This one’s for the part of you that’s tired of repeating yourself.
The part that feels like—no matter how clear the instructions—things still get missed.
And somehow, it always falls back on you to fix.
But what if it’s not the work that’s the issue?
What if it’s just a simple failure in communication?
🎙 In this episode of Systemize Your Success, I share a real moment from inside my team:
Where something was done right—
But because it wasn’t communicated clearly,
I ended up feeling confused, frustrated, and doing work I didn’t need to do.
Not because my team member messed up.
But because she didn’t explain what she’d done in a way I could see.
That’s precisely what the ‘Ideas Over Issues’ Framework is built for.
💡 Inside this episode, I unpack:
- The exact moment when great work got lost in translation
- How assumptions create friction—even with high-performing people
- And how a four-line framework turns confusion into clarity
Because leadership isn’t just about fixing what’s broken.
It’s about building systems that let people shine—and save you time.
🎧 Listen to the episode.
This one’s short, sharp, and immediately actionable.
If you want your team to take ownership—and communicate like leaders—
This episode is your blueprint.
KEY TAKEAWAYS: Structured Problem-Solving in Real Team Dynamics
- Importance of Communication: Effective communication is crucial in the workplace. A simple lack of communication can lead to misunderstandings about performance and initiative, as demonstrated in the example where a staff member failed to convey the steps they had taken.
- ‘Ideas Over Issues’ Framework: This framework encourages individuals to present problems along with their thought processes and the actions they have taken. By stating the issue, outlining the intended following action, and detailing what has already been done, it fosters more transparent communication and understanding.
- Recognising Initiative: Leaders should encourage employees to think beyond documented tasks and take initiative. When they do so, it can lead to positive outcomes, but they must communicate their efforts to avoid misinterpretation of their work.
- Feedback and Coaching: Providing constructive feedback and coaching can help improve employee performance. Reinforcing the use of frameworks like Ideas Over Issues can empower staff to communicate more effectively in the future.
- Time Management: Miscommunication can lead to unnecessary work and wasted time. By ensuring that team members communicate their actions and findings, managers can save time and focus on more critical tasks, ultimately enhancing productivity.
BEST MOMENTS: Structured Problem-Solving and Effective Communication—The Ideas Over Issues Framework in Action
00:01 – 💬 “As a business owner or manager, it can be super frustrating when your staff don’t appear to be thinking beyond the absolute necessary.”
02:22 – 💬 “It was not about this person underperforming. It was about a simple lack of communication that made it appear that they hadn’t.”
05:27 – 💬 “That simple omission, as in not documenting what she’d done, meant that I got a negative feeling about it rather than a really positive feeling about it.”
06:32 – 💬 “The Ideas Over Issues framework is when we state the problem, state the intended next action, state what you’ve already done or thought about it, and then request any further input.”
TIMESTAMPED OVERVIEW
00:00 Reporting Scenario
04:51 “Communicate Initiative for Positive Outcomes”
08:33 “Ideas Over Issues Framework”
Episode Transcript
Dr Steve Day: As a business owner or manager, it can be super frustrating when your staff don\'t appear to be thinking beyond the absolute necessary. When they\'re not taking the initiative or thinking outside the box or using common sense or whatever phrase you want to use. We can feel like they\'re just waiting for us to give them the answer.
A couple of episodes ago I shared our ‘Ideas Over Issues’ Framework and today I want to dive into a real life example that happened today. When that would have been the perfect tool for my staff member to use to communicate what they had actually done. And because they didn\'t use it, I was left feeling a bit frustrated and thinking they hadn\'t really taken things as far as they should. And as a result, I ended up doing some extra work that I didn\'t need to do because they had actually done it. They just hadn\'t communicated it effectively.
And do stick around to the end because I\'ll be sharing again how you can get the ‘Ideas Over Issues’ Framework for free. And remember to hit subscribe so you don\'t miss out on future episodes. Where I share frameworks, tips, tricks and hacks to make you more successful. To give you more freedom, purpose and impact in your life and business.
Okay, so I want to kick off by explaining the story behind this episode. I\'ll then explain what happened in terms of what went wrong and why that made me feel the way I did. And then explain how after going through some coaching with this person, hopefully the behavior will be improved. Using the ‘Ideas Over Issues’ Framework. In order to actually make sure that next time the feeling I get when something like this happens isn\'t one of negative thoughts of someone not performing at their best.
Actually thinking wow, they\'re this person\'s done anything they possibly could. I\'m super impressed because ultimately, that was what had actually happened in the background. This person had done everything I would have wanted them to do. But because they didn\'t communicate it effectively, I was left thinking they\'d just basically done the minimum. And not really taking things forward and not really thought for themselves.
And that was a real shame because it could have been an opportunity for this person to shine and in fact they\'d done the work. But because I wasn\'t aware of it, it made me feel like they really hadn\'t, sort of. And that\'s why I want to share this, because it was not about this person underperforming. It was about a simple lack of communication that made it appear that they hadn\'t. And that is one of the things that the ‘Ideas Over Issues’ Framework can actually get around. So here\'s what happened.
My staff member went into our e-commerce software to check how much our revenue was for the previous month. She then works out what the VAT provision should be, and I then transfer that money into our VAT account. This time, she saw the revenue was exactly the same as the previous month, as it had been for the month before. This made her feel that there was a glitch in the software. And so she simply commented to say, “I\'ll check again later because I think there was a glitch”. That made me feel like she hadn\'t done anything else.
She simply looked at the figures, saw it was the same and thought, “Oh, there must be something wrong”. And carried on rather than doing any sort of digging into it deeper or explaining what she\'d done. And then I brought it up in our one-to-one later that day. I asked her what more could she have done rather than just simply saying, you know, “It\'s a glitch, I\'m going to reach out later”.
She actually told me that what she\'d done was to go in and put the date range in to make sure it was correct. Because the way she\'d done it in the past and they way it’s documented is you click a button that says last month for the revenue. And automatically tells you what the whole last month was. She was thinking that maybe that wasn\'t working. That it was getting the month before and there was a glitch with that. Which kind of makes sense and what I went in to do myself, so I wanted to check this.
So I actually went into the software, put the date range in for last month and then the previous month. And just double check. Yes, it is right, it was correct and it is correct. The reason it\'s the same and it has been the same is because we\'re moving onto a different e-commerce software. So only our old recurring subscriptions are on this particular platform. All of our new subscriptions are in a completely different platform so they don\'t show up there. So it was a completely valid thing for her to spot and actually to flag up.
And I\'m really glad she did because it shows that she\'s actually looking at things carefully. But because she didn\'t communicate that she\'d actually gone in and actually checked the date ranges properly, I was then forced to then go and actually check it. Because I need to just get this done. That meant that I ended up spending five minutes logging in. Checking the details, going through, etc.
But it was more the fact that the feeling I had that she actually hadn\'t done that herself. I felt like this isn\'t like her, like it doesn\'t show any initiative or common sense. Like it didn\'t feel right but actually just made me feel negative about the situation. She just hadn\'t sort of done the job as well as she could have done. When in fact when I spoke to her about that she had done that. She had actually done the same check I had done. But because she hadn\'t communicated it. Because she hadn\'t used the ‘Ideas Over Issues’ Framework to say, “Look, here\'s the issue I\'m seeing, here\'s what I have tried or thought”. That\'s the key part here.
And then, “Is there any input that you want me to give you?”. That\'s the ‘Ideas Over Issues’ Framework. Is to frame the problem with the steps or thoughts taken. And then request any further input if possible. Like if you use that and just simply said, I\'ve already checked it by putting in the date range. Then I could have just gone oh, I, I know those figures are correct. Of course this is the reason and explained it to her that yeah, it\'s going to be the same because we\'re moving on to a different platform.
It would have saved me that five minutes. And it would have shown me she\'d taken the initiative to actually check things in an other way. Rather than just relying on the way it\'s documented in the task. That simple omission, as in not documenting what she\'d done, meant that I got a negative feeling about it. Rather than a really positive feeling about it. And then it ended up spending my time both in the act of actually checking myself to make sure it wasn\'t a glitch. And then also in our one to one bringing this up, the end result was actually really positive.
I was able to praise her on actually doing this and actually take this initiative. It was also a great opportunity to reinforce the use of the ‘Ideas Over Issues’ Framework in a real life example. So I was able to give her some feedback using the feedback model which we\'ve discussed in previous episodes. And also encourage her by explaining that when she does go outside the box and does check things that aren\'t documented. And think beyond the actual task itself, that it actually can end up saving a lot of time and effort and headaches. But it obviously needs to be communicated.
So there\'s a lot of lessons learned in here. But the whole thing really boiled on this lack of communication. A simple one-liner to state what she\'d already done or thought would have actually just completely changed this whole scenario. So if you need a reminder, the ‘Ideas Over Issues’ Framework, it\'s when we state the problem. State the intended next action. State what you\'ve already done or thought about it. And then request any further input. That is it. But it\'s so powerful.
So whenever anyone is presenting an issue, a problem, a question. Whether it be in a meeting, in a one-to-one or like this on a task comment. We want people to actually state those things because it shows the working, if you like. You remember in school when you have to do the math problem. And they always say, I\'ll put your working down because you get points for your working. And I was that sort of kid that always got really lazy and never put it down. Just put the answer down, hope for the best.
But then the teachers, even if I got it right, the teacher\'s always complaining. Saying you should put your working on, you should put your working down. And, now I understand why. Because sometimes it\'s not actually the result that matters. It\'s that person needs to be able to feel confident that the way you got there was actually, you know, a reliable way that was valid. And it\'s not that you just sort of winged it and guessed it and got it right. Like I wanted to see that she\'d actually thought about this. And she had actually gone through a process in order to get the results she had. And if she had done that, this would have been a completely different scenario.
So that ‘Ideas Over Issues’ Framework is super powerful. As I say, there\'s so many different scenarios. Pretty much anytime someone\'s presenting an issue, a problem or a question. If they use that, which can be done very, very quickly. It doesn\'t have to be a long-winded essay here. It\'s like literally three, three little statements. And a question that means the manager of the business really understands the thought process behind the issue. And also can see like the how much extra work someone\'s done. The time they\'ve put into actually trying to solve it themselves.
Which in itself can be helpful. Because sometimes people can over engineer. They can over try to fix things. Like something that is beyond their knowledge or their skill set or their expertise. And they can actually spend too long trying to solve a problem before they actually bring it to you. But if they don\'t say to you, you know, I\'ve spent 25 minutes researching this. And you know, and I still can\'t figure it out and you just go, whoa, whoa, this is way beyond you. You shouldn\'t even know how to do this. Like in the future if you\'re really stuck like this, it\'s fine just to say look, I think this is beyond me.
Like can you give me some help? So there are scenarios where it\'s actually useful to be able to see when someone\'s spent too long thinking about something. Just as much as it is important to see when people haven\'t spent any time thinking about it.
So that\'s it for today. I just want to share this real life example of where using the ‘Ideas Over Issues’ Framework would have completely transformed a very simple situation. From one where I would have walked away feeling really positive about it. And it would have speed up the process. It would have saved me time. It would have shone her in a light of actually taking real ownership of the problem and the outcome. Rather than what happened was I felt a bit disillusioned by it. I felt like she really hadn\'t done the work that she could have done.
And it also wasted my time on checking it myself. So if you\'re interested in getting the ‘Ideas Over Issues’ Framework, you can head over to sys.academy/guides. sys.academy/guides. And on there, you\'ll find the ‘Ideas Over Issues’ Framework. Which you can download and start using in your business from today.
And remember, if you\'ve enjoyed this episode, please do hit subscribe. And please do share it with your friends, colleagues, or anyone else who runs a small business. Or is a manager who you feel will benefit from learning some tips, tricks and hacks. To make you more productive, to make you more purposeful, to give you more freedom. And to make you more impactful.
Thank you very much for listening. I truly appreciate your time. Your time is very valuable. And I\'m very grateful that you spent it today listening to this. Until next time, thank you very much.
VALUABLE RESOURCES
- Our Best Guides, Frameworks, and Templates: https://sys.academy/guides
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ABOUT THE HOST
Steve moved to Sweden in 2015 and transformed how he ran his businesses—switching to a fully remote model. A former NHS doctor, with a background in computing and property investing, he now helps overwhelmed business owners systemise and outsource effectively. Through his courses and coaching, Steve teaches how to automate operations and work with affordable virtual assistants, freeing up time and increasing profits. He runs his UK-based businesses remotely with support from a team of UK and Filipino VAs, and is passionate about helping others build scalable, stress-free companies using smart systems and virtual support.
For more articles/resources related to the ‘Ideas Over Issues’ Framework and effective team communication and management, you may also like:
How to Get Your Team to Solve Problems—Before You Even Ask: A Culture of Empowerment