One of the most important roles we have as a leader is to set clear expectations with our team members. Until people know what is expected, they can only guess what success looks like and when they will get there. Said another way – clear expectations set the bar for success in a job. Setting clear expectations, while critical, isn’t as easy as it might seem – in part because the bar might be situational. Here’s what I mean.
Be Clear Yourself
Before you can set the bar for others with clear expectations, you must be clear about them yourself. Having worked with leaders for over thirty years, it is clear to me that we aren’t always clear. You must be able to clearly state what you want and need in terms of results, focus, productivity, quality, and behaviors. You will only know if you are clear – and will only then be able to make them clear for others – when you write them down.
Write down what you expect and then read it back. Is it clear? What is missing? Have someone else read them too – to make sure you aren’t reading between the lines, without being overtly clear. Once you have clear expectations, you can make them clear to others.
Consider the Situations
What you expect of different people in the same job might different based on the situation. Consider the following as examples. Think about when you have …
- A new team member. What you expect of them in the first few weeks/months might be different than what you expect later.
- An experienced and excelling team member. Your expectations of this person will be higher. The bar is above the minimum standard of the job – at a higher, more productive, higher quality standard, right?
- A struggling team member. While you would like the struggling team member to thrive, you first need them to get to the minimum standard. Setting the bar at that level is appropriate for that person at that time.
Understand the Rising Bar
Just like a pole vaulter or high jumper raises the bar after clearing it at the first level, that is what we should aspire to with our team members. That means that we must be clear for ourselves and with them where the bar is set at any given time. Two points are important to remember here:
- We must be clear on multiple bar settings, so we can clearly describe the rising expectations to team members.
- We must help others see the value and point of raising the bar. Some people may get frustrated, feeling that once they are meeting your expectations you are raising the bar! Yet, people need to strive for something, and continue to improve and grow. When people see that raising expectations help them and the organization, they will be less cynical about you raising the bar.
Determine Success
The point of this article is to make your expectations clear and for people to know what the bar for their success is. And yet in a changing world, with change all around us, we know that the bar of success will move.
How will you know when you have it set correctly/effectively?
Ask yourself this: When a person passes that bar of expectations, will you be pleased, but not satisfied? If you are pleased, you have set it correctly situationally. But if someone clearing that bar doesn’t leave you feeling pleased, you might not have it in the right place yet.
Pleased but not satisfied is a healthy balance of success (and a chance to celebrate and show appreciation) and the ongoing need for greater achievement and success. In other words, it is time to raise the bar.
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