Set Clear and Reasonable Expectations
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You can't hold your team members accountable for things they don't know they're supposed to achieve. That's just not fair. It's a morale killer and it's not productive.
You can't let them guess what you want, either. That's a recipe for chaos and frustration for everyone.
So tell them what you expect from them. Do this publicly, in meetings, to make sure everyone from your team is on the same page. Do it one-on-one, too, to make sure that each member of your team understands his or her own unique role.
Clear is not enough. Expectations should be reasonable, too. Make sure team members have the time, money and resources they need to do what you expect them to do.
One of my clients, Bob, ran a trucking company. After he'd finished laying out his expectations for performance, and making sure he was understood, he always asked one more question. "Tell me how you're going to accomplish what you've just agreed to."
The conversation that followed gave Bob and his team member the opportunity to test the reasonableness of Bob's expectations. Many times, resources were re-assigned or targets were adjusted to make sure expectations were as reasonable as they were clear.
Boss's Bottom Line
You'll do a better job of both accomplishing the mission of your team and caring for the team and the team members if you create a highly effective workplace. Setting clear and reasonable expectations is one of the keys.
Wally's Working Supervisor's Support Kit is a collection of information and tools to help working supervisors do a better job. It's based on what Wally's learned in over twenty years of supervisory skills training. Click here to check it out.
Categories: Great Working Environment, expectations
Tags: Great Working Environment
Wally, very good article. Too many leaders assume they are being clear and reasonable.
I like the example from your client on testing his communication with "Tell me how you're going to accomplish what you've just agreed to."
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Thanks, Alan. Yes, it's always dangerous to assume that you're being understood in the way you want. You have to check.
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That is an interesting approach. It happens quite a bit- many managers are so pressed for time that they don't take the time to clearly explain what they want- and they are then disappointed when the outcome isn't as they envisioned it. When there is time for the employee to ask questions and get a clear picture it certainly works out better in the end.
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Thanks, Gina. You've got it. You can't just tell people what you want and then send them over the hill to perform. You've got to check for understanding. Then you've got to go out and see if that understanding has translated into performance.
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Great post, Wally. It is so important for managers to be clear with their expectations. I think a great manager will carefully decipher each employees learning styles and will outline tasks accordingly for each employee. This must be mastered by a manager in order to efficiently receive the best results.
I think one of the best conversation techniques to help explain tasks to your employees is effectively summing up conversations. Once a discussion with your employee is complete, you should sum up the conclusions and ideas presented in order to ensure both parties leave on the same page. This is a great technique for all areas of conversation, but particularly important for managers to use. It shows that you are listening and understanding.
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That makes sense to me. I think you can reduce it to three behaviors. One, make your point in a way that increases the probability of understanding. Two, check for understanding. Three, follow up to see if understand in action matches understanding in concept.
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Communication is a key for any leader. One must set clear and reasonable goals and expectations from their employees. If the goals are not present and expectations are not clear, no progress will be made. I like Bobs' strategy. Asking questions is a good way to get to know your people and see what they capable of doing. Also as leaders we have responsibility to recognize weaknesses and strengths of our employees. Bob is not ignorant and by asking this question he is testing his delegating and decision making. Just one question like this tells you a lot about manager he is.
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Thanks, Davor. Bob was very good at what he did. I learned a lot from him.
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