Setting Employee Expectations

In our previous SellWithPower Blog we talked about miscommunication. We established that many bosses (if not most) fail to clearly communicate exactly what they expect from their employees. They simply fail to tell their employees what is important to them. They fail to tell their employees what the most important tasks are they should accomplish each day. They fail to communicate.

So, here's the big question: how can managers improve? How can they do a better job of communicating their expectations with their employees?  Here are some tips to help you improve now:

1. Determine what the most important responsibilities for each employees are. Write them down. You need to define what you want from each employee before you share that information with them.
2. Write down specific tasks you want accomlished by each employee/each day/week/month. What are the most vital thingsthey should get done? In what order?
3. Now that you know what is most important for each employee to accomplish, you can tell them. Meet with each employee and write down these specific responsibilities/tasks. Make sure they understand clearly what you expect of them. Encourage the employee to ask questions. Be willing to change or amend your list of responsibilities and tasks.
4. Hold your team accountable. Ensure there are consequences (positive and negative) when a task or responsibility is completed on time (or isn't).

By following these 4 quick tips you can mitigate miscommunication between employees and management. The other factor we really didn't discuss here is setting goals with employees. You can read more about that here.

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