Careful establishment of expectations is important. If just pulled from the air, people will know there is no connection between the goal and your expectations. Set too rigidly, expectations will not be met and people may feel discouraged. Employee engagement will be decreased.
As an effective leader, you want to check the “non-negotiables” you have. These are foundational expectations, laying the footings for the building of high performance teams. They are basic expectations that are almost “unwritten and just understood”. Examples can be “treat others with respect”, “report dangerous conditions or actions”, “share team roles”, “participate in team problem solving actions”. Non-negotiables improve the stability of a company. When these expectations are automatically met, employees’ efforts can be directed toward specific expectations you set that require discipline and drive people to greater performance.
While it is one thing to set expectations, it requires a different type of skill to monitor the expectations. Some people are good at working with their team to set expectations, but then don’t monitor the progress. This may occur because the leader just blindly trusts that people will do the work they are supposed to do. It can also occur when the leader is not comfortable holding people accountable.
Sometimes, expectations are set and the team hums along well. At other times, team members challenge the non-negotiables either verbally or behaviorally. Or, some team members just aren't meeting the expectations set. Either way, team morale can suffer. Results certainly slack.
Controlling harmful behavior is important to do as soon as possible. First, determine that the behavior is truly out of line (not just an honest oversight) and potentially harmful to the project and business. Also ensure you are in a position of authority with the person presenting the harmful behavior. If you aren't, contact someone who is.
Meet with the person and be clear about the behaviors you have observed. Stick with behaviors, not personalities or feelings. Speak only about that person’s behaviors. Keep yourself on track; don’t become side-tracked by what the other person says. You may hear, “But, Jason is doing the same thing. Why don’t you come down on him?” Your response is, “We are talking about your behaviors. Let me review what I've noticed.”
Tie the harmful behaviors to creation of problems for the team, project, and company. Do not assign intent to the behaviors. When we assign intent, we are often wrong. Deliver the message, “Your behavior of missing deadlines two times during the last week has put our project in jeopardy of failing for the customer.”
Work with the person on taking responsibility for his/her behaviors. Gain a commitment to improve, stating this behaviorally and specifically. You could say, “So moving forward, you have made a commitment to complete your part of the project steps within the timeline. You have also committed to contacting me during the morning, if you realize you will not meet that afternoon’s deadline.”
Monitoring expectations also applies to the positive aspect of high performance teams. When your team is hitting its milestones, acknowledge this. Again, your comments should be behavioral and specific. You might say, “Great job everyone! Because you met the last two milestones, we are 12% ahead of schedule on completion of this project.” Reinforce the process, not just the final product.
Responsibility for the creation of a high performance team ultimately lies with the leader. One of the keys is to catch behaviors early that may get the team off track. Another key is to reinforce the process, so team members know how well they are doing and how this positively affects the company. These opportunities present themselves through the setting of performance expectations.
To learn more about how to practice this understanding, contact Results Group, LLC at www.ResultsGroupLLC.com or 515-330-2866.
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