Expectations ARE Clear

I like this post from Brain Based Business called How visible are expectations where you work? Here's a snippet:

When clear focus is missing , workers often complain that they  have no idea what their supervisors want… and yet these same leaders bemoan the fact they can’t get ahead. One frustrated manager approached me after a talk I gave about highlighting specific expectations so people’s brains can register what to go after.  “I give my boss whatever he asks for and it’s never the right thing,” she complained. Yet when I asked him to list what he wanted,  he seems unclear himself. “I’ll know it when I see it,” he’d often mumble.

I don't agree totally with the post, but I do agree that many managers are lousy at clarifying expectations - their expectations, what they want.

Let's face it, the expectations are clear, but they are likely not what you want. Yours actions, words, and reactions all reinforce notions about what's expected. The question is, are these defacto expectations aligned to what you need to accomplish within the department?

Here's an example. I was meeting with a senior leadership team for a small company about a month ago. They were moaning about this one employee they have who is brilliant but can be verbally aloof and abusive - a real jerk to work with (I know this sounds similar to an example I shared a couple posts ago but it is a different company, similar situation). They tolerate her. They were using words like unacceptable and intolerable to describe her bedside manner. I corrected them. Her behaviors are meeting their expectations and are acceptable. By their actions (or inactions) they have set the expectations extremely low for relationship skills - not just for this one person, but for the whole organization.

Needless to say, they did not like hearing this - but thought about it and agreed.

Expectations are clear. Make sure the notions about what excellence looks like match your goals for the department.

Comments

[Ellen Weber]

Lisa, excpectations in firms around you may be unclear -- but your writing and insights are like clarion calls for refreshing change! Thanks for the inspiration and thanks also for the link. Tell me what you disagree with in the blog - Ok? Could be I got something wrong and would love to step back and look again! Have a good one Lisa!

Brain Based Business

[Lisa Haneberg]

Ellen: Thanks for the comment. Here's the statement that I don't agree with:

"Remember you’ll get what you ask for, and no more."

If you enliven the workplace and establish an environment where people want to and can do their best, you CAN get more than you ask for. It's a beautiful thing.

What do you think?

[Ellen Weber]

Wow! Lisa - you are dead right! That 2-bits can be worded better. It was intended to mean that if you ask "low" or "foggy" - you'll get "low" and "foggy" - if that makes sense:-) Show me red and I see the colors you'd like. Show me size and I can get that too. Tell me how many parts and I'll stick 'em on! Give me the parts I can create my own bits -- and I'll create 'em. But if you omit all that stuff -- you'll likely get no more than you asked for -- "low" and "foggy." Does that make any sense? I am sure we are on the same page - but I have to admit I do enjoy your fine reaches to excellence and I am inspired by these too:-)

[Wally Bock]

One reason for fuzzy expectations is that we hardly EVER tell people how to do it. We merely exhort them to "set clear expectations." Part of my purpose in life is to help people responsible for group performance learn what they should do to achieve the results they want.

If you want your subordinates to be clear about what you want you must answer the following four questions. What behavior or performance do you want? When should it happen? How and by whom will it be measured? What are the consequences of varying levels of performance?

I have to tell you want I want. Then I have to check for understanding. It's another one of those simple, but not easy parts of front line leadership.

[Wally Bock]

Ah, a quote I truly despise: "Remember you’ll get what you ask for, and no more."

It's absolute rubbish. Most of the people you will supervise in life will lie in the middle of the work ethic bell curve. Their performance will be based primarily on the quality of leadership and supervision you deliver and the quality of working environment you create.

At one end of the bell curve you will find those folks who are solid gold. Good supervisor or bad, good company or bad, they will turn in stellar performance. They will follow my mother's dictum: "I don't care if you're a ditch digger, but if you are I want you to be the one with the deepest hole, the sharpest corners and the neatest pile of dirt. And I want you to help others who aren't as good."

On the other end of the bell curve there are the slugs, malcontents, boss-haters and other group poisoners. They live to show the truth of one of my father's sayings. "Everyone is put here by God for a purpose," he would say, with a twinkle in his eye, "Some are here to serve as horrible examples." Your job will be to help them find employment somewhere else.

[Lisa Haneberg]

Ellen - I'm with you - there is a strong correlation between expectations and performance. I just like leaving the possibility open for deviations in the positive and negative - preferably positive.

[Ellen Weber]

Yes! I totally agree Lisa! I sense that with the tone and the clarity you use -- it would be far more in that positive realm too! In 1999 I wrote a book on assessments with clear criteria (published with Pearson Pub) -- that laid out evaluations that used far more of the brain. The key to that work was to apply new definitions for what it really means to be intelligent and move in that direction. Fun book to write:-) It's so often modeled at your blog -- but it's also backed by more current notions from research -- about what it means to be smart. You exceed 'em all gal!

[Lisa Haneberg]

Ellen - you are too kind! Sounds like a cool book.