Setting Expectations as a Manager

One simple way to create predictability and stability for your team is to be transparent about what you expect of your teammates, and what they can expect of you.

All kinds of organizational expectations (quarterly goals, job descriptions, team mission statements, etc.) will evolve based on company context, scale over time, leadership changes, you name it. As our environments change, managers need to flex HOW they set expectations, to set their teammates up for success.

In this workshop, we talk about how to balance being empowering and being directive as a leader, and how to know when to switch up your approach. We’ll also work on helping managers identify their default approach, so that they can see when it's most useful, and when they might need to adapt it based on what their team or company needs, what the challenge is, how much urgency there is.

Transcript

1. Setting Expectations
2. • Company-wide e.g. company values • Function-specific e.g. skills matrix, career ladder • Team-specific e.g. team mission • Individual-specific e.g. quarterly goals
3. • Company-wide e.g. company values • Function-specific e.g. skills matrix, career ladder • Team-specific e.g. team mission • Individual-specific e.g. quarterly goals
4. Why should we set expectations?
5. • Improvement and progress • Clarity and transparency • Alignment and efficiency • Feedback
6. Empowerment vs Direction
7. Empowerment Direction
8. Empowerment Direction Coaching teammates to connect their own dots Sponsoring teammates for visible/stretch assignments Group brainstorming to create expectations docs and roadmaps
9. Empowerment Direction Coaching teammates to connect their own dots Sponsoring teammates for visible/stretch assignments Group brainstorming to create expectations docs and roadmaps Writing job descriptions for each team role Scheduling oncall rotations Assigning work to each teammate
10. Risks and tradeoffs
11. Moving along the spectrum More Empowering More Directive
12. Your cross-functional peer is falling short on their core responsibilities. 1
13. Your direct report wants to be promoted, but you’re not sure if they’re ready. 2
14. Your direct report has come to you with a competing job offer at 2x their current salary. 3
15. One of your direct reports has been mean to their teammate when you’re not around. 4
16. When a new request comes in for your team, no one jumps in to triage or address it. 5
17. A senior leader routinely interrupts you in meetings. 6
18. Your approach will be informed by: • the team’s context, • the needs of your individual teammates, • who you are as a leader, and • what the organization needs.
19. Giving strong direction
20. Practice affirming body language: • Nodding • Eye contact • Leaning in
21. Practice bottom-lining it. • Start with paragraphs • Narrow to 2 sentences • Narrow to 1 sentence
22. Strong direction can create more fairness.
23. Roleplay different ways to give direction as practice.
24. Getting out of your comfort zone
25. Knowing our default
26. Management/ Leadership Philosophies
27. “Humans already have the answer(s) inside themselves; I help find them.” - me
28. “Optimize for long term relationships.” - Jason Wong, Senior Director of Engineering
29. “Strong back, open heart.” - Jerry Colonna, who introduced it to... - Chad Dickerson, former CEO, now coach
30. "The strength of the team is each individual member. The strength of each member is the team." - Phil Jackson, former head coach of Chicago Bulls - also Jill Wetzler, Head of Engineering
31. Homework: Experiment more with the spectrum. Data-gather: what effect does each place on the spectrum have on you and those around you?
32. Homework if you want to try out more group empowerment: Brainstorming Team and Manager Expectations Worksheet
33. Focus on writing down expected outcomes (rather than behaviors)
34. Get curious about (and prioritize) what your teammates’ needs are
35. Treat team expectation docs as living documents!