Two weeks ago, at a UPS store, I watched a manager take over a question his team member couldn't answer - but skip the one step that actually would've helped her. This week's video breaks down what happened. Below, the one thing to make sure you never skip when you take something over for your team.

The Habit That’s Easy to Skip When You’re Busy

When you take something over - answering a question, doing a task, making a decision - it’s tempting to just handle it and move on. “I took care of it, don’t worry about it,” can feel like the right thing - you've made sure it's done well, and they have one less thing to do. Why should you tell them what you did? You’ve got a million things to do, and stopping to explain what happened and why probably isn’t high on the list. If a team member has real initiative, they'll ask.

But the reality is, your team members aren’t always going to ask. Not because they don’t want to know - because they don’t want to take up your time, especially if it’s obvious you’re busy. They tell themselves they’ll ask later. Then it’s six o’clock, and they’re not thinking about the question that came in at 1:30. The moment disappears - and so does the opportunity to help them learn and develop.

The “Wizard of Oz” Problem

This can happen to you just as often as it does for your team. When your boss has a conversation with their boss, you may have no idea what happened behind the curtain. You feel lucky to even know a conversation happened.

As a manager, use that feeling (of wishing you had a better sense of how the conversation went) to not only change the questions you ask your own leader, but also shape how you lead your team. You may have accepted that you won't always know the details - but how helpful would it be if your boss actually told you?

Your team member likely feels the same way. When you take something over, they have no idea what a conversation was like, how the decision got made, or what you actually said. But when you proactively come back and share that - not just the answer, but how it happened - you’re giving them something they can’t get any other way.

What Closing the Loop Actually Looks Like

This doesn’t have to be a whole production. It can look like:

1. Telling them afterward, even if they didn’t ask. A quick, “I took care of the customer's question - here’s what happened and why, so you know what to do and say next time,” is more helpful than you might realize.

2. Bringing them into it when you can. If possible, invite a team member in: “I’m going to take this over, but I want you to hear how it goes.” That’s true whether it’s a customer question or a conversation with your own boss (just flag to your boss beforehand if you're bringing a team member in, to make sure they're aware and aligned).

3. Capturing it so it outlives the moment. This step takes just a bit extra time, but helps make sure you're not just answering a question, but building a library of knowledge. A screen recording, a quick note, a shared doc - anything that means someone can find the answer without waiting on you.

And know that once usually isn't enough. People may say "got it!" in the moment - but still need to hear the same answer again before it sticks. That's not a sign you weren't clear, or that they weren't listening. It's just what development looks like - and exactly why documenting it (and sharing it with the rest of the team) is worth the extra minute.

The Real Cost of Not Telling Your Team What Happened

You might worry that narrating how you do your work will just add to your day - or worse, make you feel less necessary. It's the opposite. The managers who close the loop are the ones who eventually get more time back. Because over time, your team learns how to answer the question without you - and that means more time for the work only you can truly do.

Development doesn't only happen in once-a-year performance conversations about where someone wants their career to go. It happens in these small, easy-to-skip moments - the ones where you don't just handle something, but choose to take the time to explain it. So the next time you take something over, don't just take care of it. Tell someone what happened. It's a seemingly-small habit - and also how trust actually gets built, one explained decision at a time.

When you close the loop, you're the one pulling back the curtain for your team - instead of leaving them standing there, wondering what happened and hoping you'll explain it next time.

If you're managing a team and want a framework for training and developing them in the moments that matter most: Our course Manager 101 walks managers through real situations like this one.

If you're in HR and want your managers actually closing the loop with their teams instead of just taking things over: We help organizations build this at scale. Set up a call with our team here.