From Chaos to Clarity: The Power of Clear Expectation
As you advance in your professional journey, you’ll soon find yourself leading one or multiple teams — a notable achievement. With this step, your role will expand, engaging you with a broader range of stakeholders within the organisation. You’ll shoulder the responsibility for driving company-wide initiatives to fruition. This challenging task demands a lot of personal skills and effective management to achieve the overarching objectives. A particularly pivotal skill is the ability to establish clear expectations across your teams, peers, and managers.
The Importance of Expectation Management
After 15 years of marriage with two wonderful children, I still struggle to celebrate my wife’s birthday. She insists that she doesn’t need anything, yet deep down, I know she desires something, even if it’s a small gesture. The resulting stress creates an anxiety spiral as I wonder if she truly knows how much I care. It’s clear that understanding expectations is vital, not just in personal relationships, but also in professional settings.
Expectation mismatches can occur anywhere, often subtly. You might claim to have no expectations, but truthfully, everyone holds expectations to some degree. Recognising that each person, whether it’s your spouse, boss, or children, has expectations of themselves and of you is the first step toward better understanding and managing them.
Defining Expectations
When embarking on the journey to engineering management, it’s likely that you excel as a strong engineer. In the realm of engineering, expectations are clearer. Write code, and if there are no syntax errors, the computer does what you expect. However, when transitioning to managing people, expectations become far less concrete.
Setting expectations with individuals is an imprecise science. Every person is different, and there is no predefined syntax to follow. It requires a diverse skill set, including active listening, effective communication, and navigating people’s ever-changing emotions. Furthermore, you must be capable of articulating expectations in a way that resonates with others, such as through SMART goals.
In essence, an expectation is an agreement between two distinct human beings, each with their own unique experiences, skills, cultures, and authorities.
Establishing Expectations with Your Team
Performance appraisal
As a people manager, you’re likely responsible for 7–10 direct reports. Managing their careers can be challenging because everyone thinks differently and follows a unique career path. The most effective way to set expectations with your direct reports is through performance appraisals.
A performance appraisal involves regularly reviewing an employee’s job performance and their contribution to the company. It commences with performance goals set by the manager, followed by discussing the development or support the employee needs.
By the time you engage in a performance appraisal discussion, the role’s expectations should already be clear. The job advertisement description, interview questions, and position description should provide a solid understanding of what is expected in the workplace. If not, clarifying expectations should be your top priority in the 1:1 meeting.
When setting goals for your direct reports, it is advisable to utilise SMART goals. SMART goals are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. They encompass the “Who, What, When, and Why.” For instance, in order to move towards the target state architecture (Why), lead software engineer (Who) needs to work out the technical roadmap (What) before the upcoming quarter begins (When).
Active Listening
I won’t know your expectations unless you talk. I won’t understand your expectations unless I listen.
Understanding others’ expectations requires open communication and active listening. Engaging in multiple rounds of conversations is often necessary to reach an agreement, and it’s crucial for you to effectively manage these discussions. Active listening plays a vital role in your communication skill set as it promotes transparency, honesty, and overall success.
I particularly appreciate James C. Hunter’s definition of active listening in his book “Servant Leadership.” According to Hunter, the goal of active listening is to genuinely comprehend another person’s perspective. When you understand the underlying reasons behind someone’s thoughts and actions, you have achieved active listening.
If your direct reports seem to have no expectations, it is a clear indication that active listening is required. In such cases, pose open-ended questions like, “How would you rate your experiences in the workplace?” or “How do you perceive your career progress?” By actively listening to their responses and asking follow-up questions, you can gain deeper insights into their situations. For instance, inquire about their frustrations, their most fulfilling experiences, the obstacles they face in learning new technologies, or the strategies they have tried so far.
As you delve into discussing expectations, it’s essential to clearly communicate what you can or cannot do. In situations where disagreements arise, it is important to navigate them effectively. Consider reading “Crucial Conversations” and focus on finding a shared purpose to guide your conversations.
360 Feedback
Given that everyone perceives the world from their unique vantage point, gaining a comprehensive understanding of different perspectives is crucial. One effective way to achieve this is through conducting 360 feedback, involving individuals from various roles within the organisation. The feedback can be either anonymous or non-anonymous, as what truly matters is asking the right questions to comprehend their expectations.
Effective questions for 360 feedback include: “What do you think this person has accomplished in the last six months?” and “What areas do you believe this person can improve upon?”
Valuable feedback obtained through the 360 feedback process can lead to performance improvements and the establishment of meaningful goals. By gathering insights from multiple angles, you can gain a more comprehensive understanding of expectations and work towards aligning them effectively.
Setting Expectations with Your Peers
The Goal
Just as the FIFA World Cup 2022 provided a thrilling conclusion to the year (congratulations to Argentina and the phenomenal player, Leo Messi), it prompts us to contemplate how to score a goal with 11 players in a team. Would it work if there were 11 Messis on the field? While I’m not a soccer coach, I do know that soccer is a team game. There is only one ultimate objective for the team. The constant movement without the ball to support the striker to goal is the key for to success.
Similarly, in the workplace, understanding the company goals is vital before establishing expectations with your peers. Company goals serve as the collective expectations for you and your peers as a team. Once the objective is clear, brainstorming strategies, much like the movement without the ball in soccer, becomes efficient and effective.
At ELMO, we organise the ELMO Summit annually to ensure company goals are transparent to everyone. Additionally, we share company goals in our product committees, guilds, and OKRs (Objectives and Key Results).
Framework
When teams approach the same problem in different ways, it is a sign that a framework may be beneficial. Just as software patterns solve specific software problems, there are patterns in people management. Adopting a framework provides a proven and consistent approach, aligning your peers with clear expectations.
The SPACE framework is a common framework used to measure individual productivity. It encompasses key dimensions such as satisfaction, performance, activity, communication, and efficiency. By embracing a framework, middle managers can avoid lengthy debates and foster consistency.
Process
Imagine the challenge of delivering a parcel from one country to another where people speak different languages. In such situations, a well-defined process becomes essential, ensuring clarity for all involved parties.
While too many processes can become burdensome, it is necessary to have processes in place for important tasks to establish clear expectations. A process outlines how things should be done. When non-technical individuals are involved, it is advisable to write instructions in a manner that can be understood by everyone.
For example, in the event of a production incident at ELMO, multiple individuals from different departments are involved. Our incident management process explicitly defines roles (who), actions (what), and SLAs (when). The Incident Commander, who possesses technical expertise, leads the team towards resolution. The Incident Liaison, on the other hand, handles external communications, focusing on managing the incident effectively.
By implementing well-defined processes, you can set clear expectations and ensure smooth collaboration among team members, even in complex and diverse scenarios.
Setting Clear Expectations with Your Reporting Manager
If you haven’t done so already, take the initiative to ask your manager three important questions:
What are your Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)?
Understanding your manager’s KPIs is crucial as it provides insight into their priorities and areas of focus. By knowing their KPIs, you can align your efforts and deliverables accordingly, ensuring that your work contributes to their objectives.
What do you expect me and my team to achieve?
Gaining clarity on your manager’s expectations for you and your team is essential for success. By having a clear understanding of their desired expectations, you can prioritise tasks, allocate resources effectively, and work towards achieving shared goals.
What support can you provide?
Identifying the support your manager can offer is crucial for overcoming obstacles and ensuring a conducive work environment. By knowing the resources, guidance, or assistance your manager can provide, you can leverage their expertise and facilitate your team’s success.
Remember, you don’t have to agree with all the expectations set by your manager. However, it is important to respond to them in a proactive and constructive manner. Take the time to understand the expectations, engage in negotiations if needed, and be open to resetting expectations when necessary. Regular one-on-one meetings with your manager provide a valuable platform to discuss and align expectations. Often, this alignment process culminates in the establishment of Objectives and Key Results (OKRs), which serve as clear expectations for you and your teams.
By actively engaging in conversations about expectations and maintaining open lines of communication with your reporting manager, you can foster a collaborative and mutually beneficial working relationship.
Conclusion
Expectations lay the groundwork for our goals. From our very first moments in this world, we were expected to cry, then to take our first steps at 12 months, and eventually, to embark on our educational journey at 5 years old.
The key takeaway is that clear and well-defined expectations pave the way for a smoother path towards achieving our goals and dreams. They provide a sense of direction, motivation, and purpose, ultimately enhancing their performance and job satisfaction. Embracing the expectations and using them as guidelines in the workplace can help individuals and teams navigate their professional paths effectively, leading to success and growth within the organisation.
