Communicating our expectations clearly to those we lead is an essential part of leadership. If we can avoid the most common mistakes of communicating expectations it will increase the speed of the vision. From the book "How Did That Happen" here are the 7 most common mistakes people make when communicating expectations:
- Barking out "marching orders" without making your directions clear enough that people fully understand and accept them.
- Assuming people need only one explanation in order to understand what you expect them to deliver.
- Failing to form an expectation clearly yourself before communicating it to others.
- Excluding any explanation about "why" you want something done within a specific time frame.
- Asking people to do something, but not clearly explaining when you need it done.
- Failing to describe the resources available to help people do what you want them to do.
- Issuing such specific instructions about what to do and how to do it, that people hesitate to "own it" themselves and think out of the box to ensure the result.
