What Makes A Good Leader? Clear Expectations
One of the most important skills a great leader can have is setting clear expectations for their team members. Time and time again, I hear from clients about how they get frustrated with their bosses, saying their manager was upset with them about how a project turned out. Sometimes a leader will be frustrated with their direct reports about how they performed on a task, yet the problem can usually be prevented by doing one major thing: setting clear expectations.
Why does conflict arise and how can we prevent it?
When colleagues experience conflict in the workplace, frequently, there has been a miscommunication or lack of communication around what was originally expected.
First, let’s make sure we have a shared definition of “Clear Expectations” - Being specific and defined about what you are looking forward to or anticipating.
What does that look like?
Let’s say someone on your team is preparing for a big event and it requires a lot of moving parts. There are clearly a lot of things they can do that will contribute to the success of the event. In order to get everyone involved on the same page, it’s important to 1) discuss what success will look like at the end and 2) how to get there (best practices and other advice). This is not to say you must tell them how to run the event, but instead share with them any typical bumps in the road that could occur while they are planning the event.
For example, someone I know was planning a big annual training event for their company. They had a great committee chosen to help run the event, had weekly planning meetings, and were ready to go ahead of schedule. They found out the week before the event that their manager wanted them to have a certain workbook for all of the attendees to use during the training. However, the committee had decided not to use a workbook that year because they noticed that most people didn’t actually use the workbook in previous years. The manager was upset with the person training the event, and the person in charge of the event was upset that they didn’t know their manager expected a workbook to be used at the training. What should they have done? We’ll dissect it a little more below.
Why is it so vital to set clear and specific expectations?
Well, simply put, we can’t hold people accountable for something they didn’t know they were responsible for executing. Remember, your team members can’t read your mind. If you have an expectation about what success looks like, you have to share it verbally, and I’d also suggest sharing it in writing (via email or project management software). In the example above, the manager should have made sure to share their expectations with the planning committee early on in the process, or at least with their direct report in a one-on-one meeting.
If someone is setting expectations for me, what should I do?
There are some things you can do to help the communication process when you’re assigned a new task. Whether it be a project, event, or another task -- here are some questions you can ask in order to ensure that you are getting the full picture of what success looks like:
What roadblocks could you expect to happen?
What are some best practices I should implement?
At the end, how will we know I’ve been successful?
What are some of the key outcomes for which I’ll be held accountable?
How will we measure the metrics?
How do you expect the flow of the day to go?
What materials will I need to create or find?
How can marketing help us be successful?
What other departments or experts should I include in the planning process?
Why was I chosen to lead this project?
What else should I know before proceeding?
Above all, setting clear expectations is done by planning and communicating with the end in mind.
