Setting Clear Expectations for Your Team
As an effective leader, one of the most important components of your job is to set clear expectations for your employees. This isn't just about making sure that people know what they're supposed to be doing—it's about setting up a culture of accountability and performance in your company or organization. That starts with clearly communicating what you expect from employees, and how they can meet those expectations.
Setting clear expectations for your team is a crucial part of effective leadership.
Expectations are the foundation of any relationship, and they're also the key to effective communication, successful teamwork, and building trust and accountability with your team. In fact, they're vital for getting results.
Often, however, we think that our expectations are clear and our team members are uncertain. As the leader, it is your accountability if something is done right (and on time) through clear expectations.
So what does this mean for you? Well first off, it means that if someone isn't meeting their goals or doing what they said they'd do, it's likely not because they don't care enough about their job or aren't trying hard enough; it could just be because there wasn't enough clarity around what was expected in the first place.
Communication is the first step to setting clear expectations.
You want your team members to know what you expect from them so that they can work toward team or organizational goals. Your communication needs to be intentional, consistent, and two-way to accomplish this.
Communication Tips:
Be Clear - If there are specific behaviors or outcomes that you want from each worker or team, make sure everyone knows exactly what those are so there aren't any misunderstandings later on down the road!
Be Open - It's important that you make yourself available for questions and discussion about their performance; this will help them understand what's expected of them and how they can improve in the future. Two-way communication is not a nice-to-have. When you hear questions or ask employees to restate the expectations, you know exactly where they are off track and can quickly clarify to keep things moving in the right direction.
Be Consistent - We all have so much going on, we need to be reminded about the expectations and asked to give feedback on what is working and not working. Consistent communication helps your team member critically think through the situation and own the task even more.
Overcommunicate to ensure that your team knows exactly what their responsibilities are, and how they will be evaluated.
When you're communicating with your team, it's important that you are clear about what their responsibilities are and how they will be evaluated.
There are a number of ways to communicate these expectations:
Use the same language and tone in all communications. This helps ensure that everyone understands the same thing. For example, if one person hears "must" while another hears "should," there could be confusion about whether or not something is required (and possibly resentment).
Make sure everyone understands the same thing by using different methods for different people based on their preferences or needs; some people like email while others prefer text messages or even face-to-face conversations.
Regularly provide feedback on performance and contribute to an open dialogue around improving results.
One of the best ways to reinforce clear expectations is by regularly giving feedback on performance. When you do this, you can give positive and negative feedback in a structured way that shows your employees what they're doing well and where they need improvement.
You should also ask for feedback from your employees on how well they feel their job is being done, which will help them feel more invested in the work itself as well as its outcome.
Finally, be specific about what changes you want to see happen so there's no confusion about what needs improving--and then repeat these messages regularly until those changes happen.
Setting clear expectations will help you build a strong team that excels at reaching shared goals.
Clear expectations help employees to know what is expected of them, how they will be evaluated, and how they can improve their performance. It also provides a framework for setting goals and evaluating progress. Clear expectations help create a clear line of sight from the top down and from bottom up so that everyone is clear about their responsibilities.
Remember, your team is the most important asset you have. Setting clear expectations for employees will help you build a strong team that excels at reaching shared goals. If you want to take your business to the next level and achieve success, then it's time to start setting these expectations!