Stop Assuming, Start Confirming: Why Clear Agreements Are Your Team’s Secret Weapon

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Person in business suit passing a basketball to a co-worker with other team watching. Empowering Leadership Teams

If you know me, you know I’m passionate about the power of agreements.

It’s not just a “nice to have” leadership habit—once you start to see agreements as the main mechanism of teamwork, you’ll begin to uncover them everywhere. And when you strengthen them, something incredible happens: your team’s potential gets completely upleveled. Work flows better. Accountability becomes smoother. Frustration drops. Trust increases. The team starts moving together like a well-trained crew team, rowing in sync.

As a leadership coach, I’ve seen firsthand how much time, energy, and momentum is lost when teams rely on assumptions instead of confirmed agreements. These aren't just the formal documents we sign or the task management tools we use. Agreements are woven into every interaction: who’s leading the project, when that follow-up is coming, whether "soon" means tomorrow or next week.

Think of It Like Passing the Ball

Teamwork is like a game, and making agreements is like passing the ball. If you're clear about where and when you’re passing it, your teammate can catch it and run. But if you're vague—or worse, silent—you’re likely to miss the connection.

And here’s the thing: making clean passes is easy when you’re practicing on your own turf. But real teamwork shows up when you're in the heat of the game—when you're facing a tight deadline, a big client, or a complex project with high stakes.

In those moments, fuzzy agreements can cost you the game.

Why Agreements Get Overlooked

It’s strange, but the more familiar we are with our teammates—the more meetings we sit in together, the more Slack messages we send—the more likely we are to skip confirmation. We assume shared space equals shared understanding. But our whole lives are full of implied and assumed agreements, and they can easily trip us up.

What time are we actually meeting? Who’s handling that follow-up? Are we aligned on what “done” really means?

If you're not confirming, you're guessing. And in leadership, guessing is rarely a good strategy.

Learn to Uncover the Real Agreement

One of the most powerful skills a leader (or teammate) can develop is the ability to pause and uncover the real agreement underneath the moment. Try asking:

What is the actual agreement here?
Does this really work for me (and the team)?
Have we confirmed this with everyone involved?

Only then is it time to move forward in execution. Because you can't hold people accountable for an agreement that was never actually made.

How to Build Stronger Agreements

If you want to raise your team’s game, here’s where to start:

1. Never assume shared understanding

Even if you think you’re aligned, take a moment to double-check. Ask the extra question. Repeat back what you heard. Clarity is worth the few extra seconds.

2. Confirm the core details

Every agreement should include:

What needs to be done
Who is responsible
When it’s needed
How it should be delivered

This doesn’t have to be formal. It just has to be clear.

3. Follow up and document it

Quick follow-up messages, Slack notes, or email recaps help keep everyone on the same page—but go one step further. Document key agreements and decisions where your team works: in meeting agendas, project management tools, or shared planning docs. This way, others can quickly get up to speed on what was decided, when it’s happening, and how it connects to the broader plan.

When agreements live in trusted systems, they don’t have to live in people’s heads—and that frees up energy and builds real momentum.

Why It Matters

The strongest teams aren’t just full of talented people. They’re full of people who know how to collaborate through clear, confirmed agreements.

They know how to check in, name the gap, and get aligned—not just when things are calm, but when the pressure’s on. They’ve trained to make clean passes no matter who they’re up against. And that makes all the difference.

So the next time you find yourself frustrated that something fell through the cracks, take a beat. Ask yourself:

What agreement did we make? Was it actually clear? Did everyone involved confirm it?

Because when your team stops assuming and starts confirming, everything changes. You build trust. You move faster. And you stop fumbling the ball—especially when it matters most.

Try it out this week. Pick one place where you're tempted to assume, and instead—confirm. Document. Align. Then let me know how it goes. I’m cheering you on.
— Coach Heather