Clear Expectations

When the need for CLEAR EXPECTATIONS is of top importance it means you’ll be most engaged and happy at work when goals and standards are well-defined and well-articulated. When your CLEAR EXPECTATIONS motive is met, you’re confident that you’re on the path to where you want to go. The impact of this confidence on your productivity and wellbeing is profound. You thrive when you know what you need to do to succeed in the short and long-term, and you work best when you understand how your performance will be measured. You enjoy having clarity in your work life because it empowers you to feel like success is attainable: a fixed, reasonable target, rather than a moving one. Confusion about objectives or unclear delegation of tasks frustrates you and impedes your focus and productivity. You value responsibility and ownership; you don’t want to let yourself or others down. For you, guessing at standards or expectations is discouraging and a waste of mental energy. You prefer to be proactive and are gratified by the completion of foreseeable and clearly-articulated goals.

 You feel this motive being met when…

+ You know where to focus your time and energy on a day-to-day basis to be successful.

+ You understand your own level of responsibility, authority, and expected involvement in your organization.

+ It’s normal for your leaders, colleagues, or clients to communicate what they expect of you. Whenever this is not the case, clarity can be comfortably obtained through follow-up communication.

+ You are currently looking ahead to clear and attainable work-life goals, with confidence and a level of certainty.

 This motive is at risk when…

– Decisions that affect you are made without your knowledge or input, and you often find yourself playing catch-up because of this.

– You frequently have to redo a task because expectations weren’t clear when you began it.

– Your leaders, colleagues, or clients often fail to communicate expectations and seem resistant or unable to break this pattern.

– You want to progress in your career, but don’t know what to do next.

A Work Wellness Check-In for CLEAR EXPECTATIONS

1. In this season of my life, do I know what I need to do next to meet my work-related goals? How proactive am I in seeking out this information?
2. Do I often have to repeat tasks (or do I get bogged down in a task) because an initial expectation was unclear?
3. Do I understand how my work performance is evaluated, and how it may be evaluated in the future?
4. Am I able to ask the people I work with for clarity when I need it? How do they usually respond?
5. How considerate are my team members or supervisors in relaying the information I need to meet their expectations of me?  If I don’t feel considered, can I bring this to their attention?

6. Do my clients, leaders, or the people I work with know that I work better with exceptionally CLEAR EXPECTATIONS? Have I ever told them? How have they responded?
7. When has someone I work with done an excellent job of providing or clarifying expectations? Can I point this out to the them or the team, showing appreciation and urging them to do this again in the future?
8. Do I do a good job of communicating my expectations to others? By crystalizing my expectations more purposefully can I influence the culture or relationship dynamic and lead by example?
9. Do I work with others whose wellbeing and motivation suffers if they feel stifled by expectations and rigid goals? If so, can we have a better understanding of what we both need and how to meet in the middle?

10. Are my expectations of this motive fair and realistic? Do I expect others to be perfect in their knowledge and understanding and delegate with precision that isn’t always possible?
11. Are there questions I can ask directly to ensure that I understand the expectations of my clients, colleagues, or manager?
12. Do I know who makes the decisions for my team, project, department, or company, or is this information unclear or inaccessible? Does this affect me? If so, how?
13. Do I know what I need to accomplish to take the next steps in my career? If not, what do I need to do to figure out the immediate next step?
14. Do I have CLEAR EXPECTATIONS of myself at work, and if not, is that something that would benefit me? Do I hold myself accountable to the standards I want to set for myself?