As a leader, I learned the
hard way that misaligned and unclear expectations can quickly lead to
confusion, conflict, and communication problems. This is true particularly at the beginning of
a new working relationship, when developing annual performance objectives, and when
initiating major work projects. It is
the leader’s responsibility to ensure that expectations are clearly defined,
completely understood and agreed to, and continually maintained. Unfortunately, many leaders make the mistake
of assuming that their expectations are understood when in fact they aren’t for
numerous reasons. On the leader’s part,
some of the reasons for misalignment include:
the expectations weren’t adequately defined; the expectations weren’t
clearly communicated; or the expectations may have changed. On the other hand, the follower may have
misunderstood the expectations, or believed they were unrealistic, or disagreed
with some or all of them. When any of
these occur, either on the part of the leader or the follower, there is a
breakdown in trust, reduction in effectiveness, and potential for greater
problems. How does the leader avoid
these problematic issues with their followers and ensure they are aligned
around a common set of expectations? It
is really quite simple and it comes down to good two-way communications. The leader must:
- Clearly define their expectations in writing,
give a copy of them to the follower, and then jointly discuss them in
detail.
- Ask the follower to develop his or own written
list of expectations of the leader (or project or performance objectives),
give them to the leader, and discuss them in detail as well. Remember, where there is no involvement,
there is no ownership.
- Quickly resolve and reconcile differences in
expectations if they exist. I find
that in most cases, the differences are minor and often a result of
misunderstandings or incorrect assumptions that are quickly corrected when
candidly and honestly discussed by the leader and follower. However, it must be a two way dialogue
usually with some give and take required by both individuals.
There may be occasions
when a follower believes he or she can’t meet the leader’s
expectations. Many times these concerns
can be rectified for by the leader through providing the follower with additional training/development
and/or creating quick wins to increase their level of confidence. However, if the follower won’t agree to
the expectations, the leader will either have to lower their expectations (this
rarely happens) or work with the follower to find him or her a more appropriate
position or project. If you’re a leader,
have you fully communicated your expectations to your followers?
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