The world and our work situations are changing – rapidly. Just when you think things are settling in, something else changes. And in a world that is more interconnected than ever, changes in one place can domino to plenty of other places, including the daily work of you and your team. Amid all that change, are you changing expectations of the work to mirror how the world is changing?
If not, you might be missing the most important thing you could do.
I know there are reasons you may not be doing that, including:
- I don’t have time! The change itself is taking up all my time and the team just needs to keep up.
- Expectations provide some sense of normalcy. In times of change, if I can keep some things the same, it will help people feel better.
- We’ll wait until things settle down. Then we’ll reset some expectations. (how’s that working for you?)
- My team is smart. They will figure it out.
- I don’t even know myself. How am I supposed to help my team?
I’ve heard all these justifications, but once you read them, you can see the fallacy in the logic, even if you understand the sentiment.
Why Changing Expectations Matters
Expectations are a cornerstone to successful work, since they define what success is in any job. If people don’t know what success is, how can they strive for it? When the expectations are unclear, there will be slippage in productivity, greater uncertainty, reduced engagement and more. Including perhaps people delivering the wrong (or less than optimum) outputs, thinking they are on track.
If the world is changing, and the work is changing, that automatically requires a look at the expectations of the work too. While not always true, most often a changing world means changing expectations.
As important as a job description is, we know it doesn’t define the full job expectations – and in a changing world that is truer than ever.
One more important point. Crystal clear and complete expectations of work is one of the best ways to create certainty in an uncertain world. As a leader, one of the best – and kindest – things you can do for your team is to commit to changing expectations as the world changes.
What Do You Actually Change?
The best way to answer this question is to acknowledge that there are different kinds of expectations. In changing situations, not all of them may need to change, but all must be considered. Here are the types of expectations to consider:
- The what expectations. Have the fundamental work outputs of the job changed or shifted?
- The how expectations. The outcomes may not have changed, but has an organizational or technological change changed how things need to be accomplished?
- The when expectations. Have timelines and deadlines fundamentally (or temporarily) changed?
- The who expectations. As the team changes, do things need to be delivered to different people or groups? (and have their needs changed?)
- The why expectations. Has the fundamental purpose or priority of the work shifted?
Ask yourself these questions often and engage your team or individuals in your thinking through a conversation. When you do this, you all gain collective clarity on where you are now and what is required for success.
One More Thing
In a recent workshop in Houston, a participant talked about this situation and said that expectations may need to be elastic, supple and able to change, based on the context and needs of the business situation. This person got it exactly right. Which leads to one more overarching expectation of all work:
That changing expectations of the work should be expected by all of us.
When we understand this, the change won’t cause as much anxiety. As we become more willing to adapt and flex our expectations for the short or long term, we create a sense of stability that we often miss in time of change.
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