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Managing the expectations of your team is an important part of your role as a leader or manager. Being open and honest about what the team can expect, and what you expect from them, can help to build trust, increase engagement, and prevent frustrations from arising. Following these suggestions will help you to manage your team’s expectations effectively.
Make Team Roles and Responsibilities Clear
It is vital for team members to know exactly what is expected of them at work, and what they can expect from their roles. Providing employees with clear job descriptions and a thorough induction when they join the organization are both effective ways of doing this. If team members take on new responsibilities as they progress and develop in their roles, their job descriptions should be updated to reflect these changes.
Be Upfront
Make your team aware of your expectations from the outset of a project or initiative, and provide reminders of this from time to time during team meetings and one-to-one conversations. Setting expectations half-way through a project or in response to a mistake or setback will only confuse and frustrate team members.
Highlight the Strategic Relevance of Your Expectations
Demonstrating the link between your expectations and your organization’s strategy will help employees understand how their work relates to the wider objectives of the organization. For example, a strategic objective of fostering a collaborative working culture could translate into an expectation for team members to work effectively together.
Take a Team Temperature Check
To manage your team’s expectations effectively, you first need to understand what these expectations are. An effective way of doing this is to circulate a survey around your team. In the survey, you may wish to include questions about team expectations relating to working practices, resources, development opportunities and the team environment.
Discuss Individual Expectations
As part of your regular one-to-one conversations with team members, you should aim to gain an understanding of their expectations as individuals. It is a good idea to ask employees to be as specific as possible during these conversations, as this will provide you with a more accurate impression of exactly what their expectations are. Asking open questions such as ‘how do you think this could be delivered?’, ‘what do you think this would help you achieve?’ will help you to do this.
Don’t Make Promises You Can’t Keep
It is vital that you are realistic when responding to team members’ expectations. If something simply isn’t feasible, you should be upfront with team members and explain the reasons why. Of course there may be times when circumstances change and it becomes difficult, or even impossible, to deliver something you have previously promised your team. If this happens, it is important to be honest about this and provide your team with an explanation.
Seek Creative Solutions
If it is possible to meet a basic expectation in a slightly different way, you should discuss this with your team. For example, if you are unable to provide external training and development opportunities, you might be able to develop employees through internal coaching or mentoring instead. Similarly, if it is not feasible to reward your team financially for discretionary effort or exceptional performance (e.g. with a cash bonus), you could consider providing them with a non-financial reward, such as an additional day’s annual leave, as an alternative.
Keep Your Team Informed
If you become aware of any changes that are going to take place in your team or organization, it is important to inform your team of them as soon as possible. Explain why the change is going to happen, how it will affect them, and whether it will alter your expectations of the team. Wherever possible, aim to give your team plenty of notice about changes or new initiatives and provide realistic timescales.
