Expectations are a more generic topic and not directly related to Quality Management. But it’s definitely about effectiveness and efficiency; hence, we are back in the QM space.
I’ve got inspired by a newsletter from Bernd Geropp, a German management coach. And he phrased what had been flying around in my mind for quite some time already. I just couldn’t put a handle on it so far. It is about your expectations towards your direct reports.
If you are leading a team, if you are a manager, of course, you have expectations. We all do. Now, do you know if your direct reports are aware of your expectation? Do they know every expectation? Do they know which ones are more important than others? I highly doubt that since I assumed that for a long time too, and regularly got disappointed since my expectations haven’t been met or even ignored. Sounds familiar?
Well, what I missed was the fact that I didn’t communicate my expectations clearly or often enough. So it was entirely my fault. As a result, frustrations at all ends.
But the solution is quite easy: Write your expectations down, all of them.
Sit down for a few minutes and write them down, whatever they are. Some common ones would be loyalty, honesty, proactivity or customer satisfaction, being on time, and others. Please write them down. Let’s go!
Now order them by priority. Which items on the list are more important than others? I hear you already shouting: “All of them are important!” which I refuse to believe. Being on time for an internal meeting can’t beat customer satisfaction. So stop arguing and bring them into the correct order.
And now it’s time to communicate that list to your people. Invite to a short meeting to explain your expectations and to answer questions. There certainly will be questions. Then simply explain your reasoning behind your expectations.
Once every open point has been clarified, put this list in a place where everyone can find it, e.g. in your Wiki.
So what’s the learning?
Communicating clear expectations effectively can help avoid confusion, frustration, and disappointment. Writing down your expectations in order of importance and then explaining them to your team is a great way to ensure everyone knows what you expect from them. Putting this list into an accessible place where it can be easily referred back to when needed, such as a Wiki page or intranet site, will make sure that your expectations are always top of mind for everyone on the team.
Here is an example, of my list of expectations for my team members:
Expectations to QM Team Members
- General Behavior
- We win as a team, and we lose as a team. There are no lonely heroes on our team.
- Commitments are commitments and not suggestions. If you commit, stick to it. And in case a target date can not be made, communicate this in advance with a mitigation proposal.
- Reporting back is part of every task. Without reporting back, the task is not done.
- There are always 1000 reasons why something won’t work. We don’t want to hear them. Determine instead what needs to happen to make it work.
- If you don’t bring at least two solution proposals, don’t come with problems.
- With every task you start, ask yourself how does that benefit our customers?
- Be proactive. Period.
- I assume you are on track if I don’t hear anything from you.
- Being on time is simply polite. Let’s not waste each other’s time.
- Use every opportunity to learn.
- Communication
- Overcommunicate, better communicate more than too less.
- We do not do any finger-pointing.
- Every communication stays constructive and respectful.
- We ban the word “they. Replace “they” with “we.”
- Make sure I have all the information needed to represent our team. I would hate to be surprised by people outside the team if you could have given me a heads-up.
- Feedback
- Feedback should address behaviors, not your conclusions of observed behavior.
- Please always deliver feedback respectful, constructive, and forward-directed.
- Share if you appreciate something; everyone likes to be praised occasionally.
- Share the bad news; we want them to know to get a chance to fix things before it’s too late.