Managers Need To Learn How To Lead.

The other night, we ate out at a restaurant.  I ended up waiting ten minutes, watching while various waiters wander by.  When it became clear that no one was going to help me, I went to the hostess and asked if my server would be with us soon.  After that, my server finally showed up, a little flustered and confused.  “I didn’t realize this was one of my tables,” she laughed.

The rest of the evening went fine, but I have to admit, I left that restaurant feeling unsatisfied with my experience. The problem wasn’t even just the wait–because sometimes mix ups happen–but more so the server’s oblivious attitude.  Needless to say, it’s not a restaurant I want to go back to any time soon.

Most managers blame their employees.  While some of this blame may be fair, ineffective employees are often the byproduct of one of the main downfalls of managers and owners: a lack of clear expectations.

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Recently I spoke at a Royal Bank Mortgage Specialist conference.  In all my years in business, I have never witnessed a manager do what he did.

The new manager, Nolan Tabashniuk, started by asking his employees what their expectations were.  Not just of their jobs, but of him as a manager and leader.  What made Nolan different was not what he asked, but how he asked it.  Nolan showed genuine interest and truly listened to his employees.

Then, the most amazing thing happened.  His employees all started to believe Nolan truly cared about them and an instant bond of trust and integrity was established.   The dialogue that followed offered some of the most powerful suggestions any manager can hear from their people.

Nolan then transitioned to his expectations of the employees. Nolan didn’t just provide a generic list of dos and don’ts, but he took the time to talk through each expectation, so the employees not only understood what the expectation entailed, but what its purpose was. Employees have to know why something is important if we expect them to perform to such standards.

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Below are six key points that all managers need to be aware of when it comes to setting expectations in the workplace.

1. Truly care about the expectations of your employees: Employees need to feel like valued members of a team, and the only way to do that is to listen to their needs and concerns. Only after employees feel like their expectations matter will they be willing to push their work habits to the next level.

2. Make it clear that not all expectations can be fulfilled: One danger in letting employees share their concerns is the fallacy that those issues can all be resolved. While a good manager will always strive to help employees, it is important to be clear that not every expectation can be met.

3. Write expectations down. The simple act of writing expectations down can drastically improve the sense of trust between employees and managers. When employees see a manager taking notes of their expectations, they are more likely to believe that the manager is invested in them.

4. Follow-up on expectations. While the initial brainstorming between Lance and his team was productive, it won’t mean much of anything if Nolan doesn’t follow up. All managers need to stay true to their commitment to employees, continually working to satisfy expectations when possible. If employees see a consistent effort in this regard, they are more likely to provide similar effort in return.

5. Have very clear expectations of employees. Employees should never be confused about what is expected of them. They have to understand exactly what the expectations mean and how that should impact their performance.

6. Explain why your expectations are important. While some expectations may make perfect sense to a manager, they are not always as clear for the everyday employee. It is essential that managers explain why certain expectations exist. Employees are more likely to be invested in their work if they understand why it is valuable.

In the end, if we want to see quality results in the workplace, we need to start changing the way things work from the top down. Before we can answer the question of what should our expectations be of our employees, we need to validate their expectations of us. From there, we can build a relationship of trust and respect.

Fred Sarari

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