Sustainable Excellence Xtras # 92 - Having High Expectations Of Your Staff

What do you expect of yourself and what do you expect of others, particularly the people you work with?

Have you ever had someone ask you to do something, but you doubted your ability to accomplish the task? Then, the person making the ask of you told you they knew you could get the job done. Did their confidence in your ability change your mindset from doubt to a belief in your capability?

The website Leaders (Howland - 9/9/2022) listed these seven ways of setting clear expectations with your staff so they can be successful in their job:

1. Determine what the expectations are - Create a sense of unity and cohesiveness by developing expectations based on organizational values.

2. Connect your "why" to your employee's "why" -  Communicating the meaning behind your job expectations helps individuals understand how their impact extends far beyond being a source of labor.

3. Communicate expectations in-person and on paper - Handing out a hard copy of expectations gives team members something they can refer back to and store in their long-term memory.

4. Be consistent - It’s important for your team to feel a sense of stability. Trusting teams can’t develop unless a leader creates an environment of consistency.

5. Create rhythms - Structuring your workday with good habits and pre-determined routines is one of the best strategies to use as you develop a successful business.

6. Establish realistic timelines - As the leader, it's your job to create high-quality results. Unmanageable deadlines produce poor working conditions with anxiety, burnout, hostility, and stress.

7. Affirm expectations are clear and agreed upon - Setting expectations for employees is part of the relationship-building process. Be open to listening to team members if they express concern about the measures you have set.

While setting expectations and marrying them to the company values is important, making sure your staff feels their responsibilities and contributions to the organization are valued will set the foundation to ensure each team member does their best to produce quality work in a timely manner.

Please check out the video below to learn about the results of several studies that prove the importance of setting clear expectations and believing in the ability of your employees to get the job done.

Also, please leave me a comment about a time in your career when someone believed in your ability to succeed, even though you had some doubts at the start.