Communicate Expectations the Right Way (from Forbes.com)
Sangeeth Varghese, 07.12.10, 03:26 PM EDT
It's not only the challenges you give to your best people but also how you give them.
In one of my earlier columns, "When Believing It So Makes It So," I suggested that if you hold clear high expectations for your people they may automatically rise meet those expectations. However, I might have added that when you urge employees on to greater achievement, how you urge them is as important as what exactly you urge. Great expectations can easily go awry if they're not communicated the right way. Here are a few tips for doing it right.
Declare very high expectations. Sometimes seemingly impossible goals are the most likely to be met. Ordinary expectations can be self-defeating because people realize such goals won't be hard to accomplish, so they don't try very hard. Thus you should set goals that will at first provoke the response that they can never be attained. Be clear that you are expecting something truly out of the ordinary. As you declare and continually reinforce what you're hoping for, those from whom you're desiring it will start working toward it with such a focused effort that the ball should quickly start rolling toward the goal.
Communicate your expectations clearly. Make sure that there is no ambiguity about what is expected. Describe what you're aiming for fully and in a positive way. There should be no confusion in anyone's mind about what you're demanding. If your goals and priorities are clearly articulated those who will execute them will be able to focus all their effort on attaining them.
Make sure those expectations fit their recipients. A leader should make sure that he declares the right expectations to the right people. He should consider his audience's backgrounds, abilities and circumstances before setting expectations. There is no point in setting a goal that's far removed from what someone has any experience and expertise in. Only establish expectations that have a real, strong chance of succeeding--even if they do sound impossible at first.
Communicate your expectations at every level. A leader must reinforce his expectations consistently, in both personal and public settings, formally and informally, inside and outside the organization. Every moment you spend with a person should confirm your trust that he will grow to the level you expect. At the same time, you should also make sure your high expectations for that person are reinforced by being conveyed to others inside and outside his immediate milieu.
Reconfirm your expectations constantly. Do not be discouraged when someone doesn't immediately grow to fit your expectations. Rather, continue to encourage by being clear that those expectations persist.
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§ Why you shouldn't accept excuses
When employees make up excuses to get out of work, many bosses let them slide rather than pick ugly fights. That's a mistake, say some leadership experts, and it can foster a culture of rule-breaking and erode a company's productivity. "If it becomes OK to skirt the rules in little ways, it eventually becomes acceptable to skirt the rules in big ways, too," says Patricia Harned, president of the nonprofit Ethics Resource Center. The Wall Street Journal (5/12)
The article comes to us from Smartbrief on Leadership. |