Every good manager prioritizes the same thing: clear communication.
Jenna Eichberg, chief people officer at emergency communications company AlertMedia, said that employees who have a clear understanding of what success looks like and how their work contributes to bigger goals are better equipped to take ownership of their performance and deliver their best work. That’s why AlertMedia holds quarterly town halls led by their CEO and has a manager Slack Channel where managers are enabled to understand the AlertMedia north star.
“By reinforcing strategic priorities through team conversations, goal-setting and ongoing communication, we create stronger alignment across the organization and empower employees to make decisions with greater context, confidence and purpose,” Eichberg said.
Eichberg and the other four managers we interviewed believe that transparency is one of the most important traits of successful managers. When we spoke with them, they outlined the structured feedback systems, transparent strategy updates and manager training programs that strengthen the consistency of their leadership and their communication with their teams, enabling employees to grow, feel empowered and engage with their work on a much deeper level.
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How do managers create clarity around goals and priorities?
I create clarity by helping my team understand not only what we need to accomplish, but why it matters. Priorities can come from different parts of the business, so the most important thing for managers, especially technical managers, is to stay involved and ask the right questions. It’s about understanding what problems we’re trying to solve, why we’re doing what we’re doing, what the benefit is and what the Objectives and Key Results are. Having that context helps managers communicate clearly with their teams. I try to set clear expectations, connect the work to the bigger picture and make ownership clear so that people on my team can move forward confidently without needing constant direction.
What role does feedback play in management development?
Feedback is essential to a person’s growth, no matter what role they’re in. I believe in giving feedback regularly and in the moment rather than waiting for formal reviews. I also value getting feedback from my team and peers because it helps me understand where I can adjust my approach and become a better leader.
It’s important to get feedback from your peers to understand how you are coordinating and collaborating with others and from your leaders to know whether you are working toward the right things. And when you’re a leader with people reporting to you, it’s also important to understand how they feel, what they expect from you and how you can best support them.
How do leaders ensure employees understand company strategy?
I think leaders play an important role in making strategy relevant to people’s day-to-day work. Simply sharing the strategy isn’t enough. We’re a huge company and priorities can come from multiple places: from the business, from your own leaders or from other teams. We also work closely with a variety of partners.
I make sure to connect our team’s priorities and decisions back to the broader direction of the organization, explain the why behind changes and create space for questions. It’s important to understand what we’re trying to solve and establish clear OKRs and measures of success so everyone understands what we’re working toward, can communicate it clearly and track progress over time. When people understand how their work contributes to the bigger picture, they can make better decisions and take greater ownership.
AlertMedia helps companies keep their people safe, informed and connected during emergencies and other critical events.
How do managers create clarity around goals and priorities?
Clarity starts with connecting individual contributions to the bigger picture. Through our quarterly town halls led by our CEO and our manager Slack Channel, our managers are enabled to understand our AlertMedia north star and how we get there. We encourage managers to translate company objectives into meaningful team priorities so employees understand not just what they're working toward, but why it matters.
We believe alignment requires ongoing communication, not just annual goal-setting. Through regular one-on-ones, performance conversations, team meetings and intentional check-ins, managers set clear expectations, identify and remove roadblocks and adjust priorities as business needs evolve.
We also invest in developing managers' ability to communicate effectively, set SMART goals and lead with transparency through our quarterly Ascend Manager trainings and leadership development programs. At AlertMedia, we believe employees who have a clear understanding of what success looks like, how their work contributes to organizational goals and where to focus their energy, are better equipped to take ownership of their performance, deliver their best work and grow.
What role does feedback play in management development?
At AlertMedia, we believe great managers aren't defined by having all the answers, but by their willingness to listen, learn and continuously improve.
We encourage a culture where feedback flows in multiple directions and where radical candor is embraced. Regular one-on-ones, performance reviews, peer feedback, upward feedback and employee engagement surveys create opportunities for managers to better understand their impact, recognize strengths and identify areas for growth.
We reinforce these practices through leadership development programming focused on strengthening effective communication, coaching for growth and using Insights Discovery to deepen self-awareness. For example, our Leading at Alert program includes providing Managers with 360 feedback to inform their developmental goals and growth plan. Equally important is creating an environment of trust where employees feel comfortable sharing their perspectives and ideas openly.
Our philosophy embraces clear is kind and believes feedback is intended to spark meaningful conversations, strengthen relationships at all levels and help managers become more thoughtful, confident and adaptable leaders.
How do leaders ensure employees understand company strategy?
Employees are most engaged when they understand where the business is headed and how their contributions support that direction. At AlertMedia, we prioritize transparent, consistent communication that makes our company strategy accessible and relevant to employees at every level.
Our quarterly town halls create opportunities for senior leaders to share business performance, strategic priorities and progress toward key initiatives while inviting employees to ask questions and engage in the conversation with our executive team.
But communicating strategy doesn't stop with executive updates. Department town halls create opportunities for our employees to better understand how their team priorities connect to the broader organizational goals. Managers play a critical role in connecting those broader priorities to everyday responsibilities, helping employees understand how their work contributes to our collective success.
By reinforcing strategic priorities through team conversations, goal-setting and ongoing communication, we create stronger alignment across the organization and empower employees to make decisions with greater context, confidence and purpose.
Kustomer’s AI-native CX platform is designed to help businesses meet the needs of customers.
How do managers create clarity around goals and priorities?
Each engineer sets goals with their manager and those goals are written down and reviewed regularly. They’re specific to the individual, tied to business value and designed to stretch each person beyond their current scope. Weekly check-ins cover day-to-day work and tradeoffs and more formal check-ins track progress against goals.
What role does feedback play in management development?
Strong management starts with open communication. Managers at Kustomer set a clear standard for feedback with their teams, giving it regularly and making it easy for engineers to give it back. That two-way exchange is how managers learn to support each person well and keep improving. Formal team and company-wide surveys happen periodically and feedback from every source shapes how roles and teams develop.
How do leaders ensure employees understand company strategy?
Understanding strategy starts with transparency. Engineers at Kustomer hear the company’s direction directly from leadership and work side by side with product and business teams, with as few layers of abstraction in between as possible. That closeness gives engineers a real voice in the strategy as well as a clear view of it. Product, business and engineering build it together as one team.
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Metropolis Technologies, Inc. is an artificial intelligence company whose computer vision platform enables checkout-free payment experiences for the real world.
How do managers create clarity around goals and priorities?
At Metropolis, clarity starts at the top. Executive leaders set company and department OKRs based on our overarching strategy and every employee builds goals that connect to those priorities. Managers review and finalize their team’s OKRs and track progress through monthly updates, keeping priorities visible and adjusting as demands shift. Goals are transparent across the organization, allowing every employee to view company-wide progress in WorkBoard, our OKR tool.
One-on-ones are employee-led. Team members bring their progress, blockers and needs to the table early rather than waiting for annual reviews. It is your dedicated time to take the wheel.
We hold managers to the same clear standard. Keeping OKRs current and completing regular check-ins are core expectations during our performance review cycle.
You always know what matters, how your work contributes and where you stand. During our 2026 OKR rollout, 96 percent of employees created individual goals and every executive leader published theirs.
What role does feedback play in management development?
In a fast-paced environment like Metropolis, feedback keeps our momentum going. It confirms whether you are working on the right priorities and executing them effectively. We treat continuous feedback as a core operational requirement.
That commitment starts with our leadership. Through Ignite, our manager development program, we teach the mindsets of effective management — with a strong focus on feedback through the situation-behavior-impact framework. We deliberately emphasize curiosity to encourage managers to ask questions before making assumptions.
Our leadership competencies use clear, behavioral language so managers understand what strong execution looks like and have a concrete baseline for coaching. We also launched a feedback survey for direct reports to help us identify exactly where managers need additional support.
Communication runs both ways. Employee-led one-on-ones put you in control of the agenda and give managers continuous practice in active listening. At Metropolis, feedback extends far beyond an annual review — it is how we stay fast, focused and constantly improving.
How do leaders ensure employees understand company strategy?
At Metropolis, every employee owns strategy. One of our core values is "we are owners" — every individual plays a direct role in achieving our vision, making success a shared responsibility rather than a top-down mandate.
Leaders communicate priorities through company town halls, executive briefings and leadership calls. At the same time, managers bring those goals into team meetings and one-on-ones. Company and department OKRs live in WorkBoard, so every team member can see how their daily work supports overarching objectives.
New hires join a dedicated OKR onboarding session and have 30 days to set their goals, ensuring early alignment. We also encourage employees to leverage AI tools in ways that directly advance company OKRs.
Every role plays a distinct part in our mission. As leaders, our job is to show team members where they fit and hold them fully accountable for outcomes, not just task lists.
Pager Health is a virtual care platform that enables healthcare organizations to help their members and patients navigate the entire healthcare journey with a personalized, connected care experience.
How do managers create clarity around goals and priorities?
We believe ongoing conversations between employees and managers give clarity. Department heads regularly update goals and managers meet with their employees to focus on them.
We encourage leaders to connect people's work to our goals and vision multiple times a year. When employees understand how their work makes an impact, they can drive the right outcomes. We ask managers to get into the nitty-gritty and work alongside their employees on the ground. That helps them understand the work, stay aligned, clear confusion and make quick adjustments.
Leaders work closely with employees to identify lower-priority work that AI tools can handle with human review. That opens up more time for our people to focus on the highest-impact work.
We provide managers with training and tools, so they can easily share and update goals. Our training gives managers and employees a simple structure for performance conversations: identifying or changing priorities, naming blockers and needed support, discussing what is going well and what needs to be addressed and making sure managers ask employees how they can lead better.
What role does feedback play in management development?
Feedback plays a central role in management development at our company. We focus on continuous feedback that flows in every direction: from managers to employees, from employees to managers and from peer to peer.
In our regular one-on-one conversations, managers are trained to ask employees what they can do to improve as leaders and how they can help each employee reach their full potential. We encourage peers to give each other candid feedback, with the heart of helping someone grow stronger and better.
We build feedback into our ongoing performance conversation structure, formal reviews, employee engagement surveys and 360-degree feedback surveys. We also provide annual training to managers on how to give feedback.
Executives hold skip-level meetings to understand what employees need, what's happening in the business and any feedback employees may have for management.
As a company, we are focused on respect, candor and transparency in how we communicate with each other. Employees understand that these beliefs are important for us to move quickly as a company. We value telling colleagues the truth and not withholding information, while remaining respectful.
How do leaders ensure employees understand company strategy?
Our executive team meets with vice presidents across the company once a month to talk about company strategy, priorities and any changes. Leaders are then given materials, like slides and talking points, to share with their teams so the message stays consistent.
We also hold regular company meetings where our CEO and executive team share what is happening across the business and where our strategy is headed. We also offer periodic product development meetings that any employee can attend, giving our technical teams a direct window into what we are building and why.
Additionally, employees are encouraged to ask questions of the CEO, executives and any company leader to help them understand what we are doing, why we are doing it and how they can help us succeed.
