LinkedIn and 3rd parties use essential and non-essential cookies to provide, secure, analyze and improve our Services, and to show you relevant ads (including professional and job ads) on and off LinkedIn. Learn more in our Cookie Policy.
Select Accept to consent or Reject to decline non-essential cookies for this use. You can update your choices at any time in your settings.
As a people manager, you need to set clear and realistic expectations for your team to ensure effective performance, collaboration, and alignment. But how can you do that without being too rigid or too vague? Here are some tips to help you set team expectations for successful management.
Top experts in this article
Selected by the community from 80 contributions. Learn more
The first step is to communicate your vision and goals for your team, both in the short and long term. Explain why they matter, how they align with the organization's strategy, and what success looks like. Use SMART criteria (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound) to define your objectives and key results. Make sure your team understands and agrees with your vision and goals, and solicit their feedback and input.
Thanks for letting us know! You'll no longer see this contribution
In my experience, clearly articulating what the goals are and communicating them effectively with the team is more important. go to the details, measure progress monthly/weekly which is agreed upon with each team member. Help them achieve those. identify their strength and make them contribute more towards their strengths rather than on their weakness
Thanks for letting us know! You'll no longer see this contribution
Creating a singular basket of expectations for everyone in the team might be challenging due to varying levels of influence and focus. Therefore, it is a best practice to break down these objectives into organizational, team/unit, and individual levels. Engage in quality discussions to ensure a comprehensive understanding of each objective and how individual and team efforts can influence them. Success lies in meaningfully explaining and illustrating how each individual's contributions impact these objectives.
Thanks for letting us know! You'll no longer see this contribution
Short and sweet - be :
1. Realistic
2. Factual
3. To the point
4. Updated on latest of your field
5. Get your data, facts and figures right...
After this you won't need any fancy dancy except the S.M.A.R.T. criteria - it's actually important.... Short from the above mentioned 5 points
Thanks for letting us know! You'll no longer see this contribution
This is one of the most important points: we don't just come and do something... We (team / department / company) should have a vision and a strategy. Not having these is a clear path to failure, disappointment, unclear and therefore unreachable goals...
Each person should know that she/he is part of this strategy and its execution. In this way the work becomes a motivation point, not only something that people do to earn money.
Thanks for letting us know! You'll no longer see this contribution
To set team expectations for successful management:
Define clear team goals and objectives.
Assign roles and responsibilities.
Establish key performance indicators (KPIs).
Encourage open communication and collaboration.
Provide regular feedback and coaching.
Ensure everyone understands the team's vision and objectives.
Foster a positive and inclusive team culture.
Adapt and refine expectations as needed based on evolving circumstances and feedback.
Thanks for letting us know! You'll no longer see this contribution
Setting team expectations is crucial for successful management.
• Clear and concise communication of expectations is crucial.
• Ensure team members understand the company's vision and individual contributions.
• Positive feedback and encouragement can motivate team members.
• Regular feedback and decision-making should be transparent to ensure expectations are met.
• A culture promoting collaboration, respect, and support is essential.
• Achieving realistic expectations can prevent frustration and burnout.
• Tasks should be based on individual strengths and abilities.
Thanks for letting us know! You'll no longer see this contribution
Communication of vision and alignment of the same with the team and individual vision is very important. Here in order to communicate the same the managers can use the storytelling method in order to attach the team with the reasons and how it can impact them in both short and long run. They should use mediums and language that is easy to use and understand so that they can imbibe the same effectively.
Thanks for letting us know! You'll no longer see this contribution
For me it’s all about Creating Relevancy between my Teams Values and my Vision. Sharing/communicating and setting goals is not enough to create Loyal contributors.
Before SMART which is a useful tool. Communicate with individual that Value your vision.
Thanks for letting us know! You'll no longer see this contribution
To set team expectations for successful management, establish clear goals and objectives, ensuring they align with the team's overall purpose. Communicate expectations clearly and consistently, outlining responsibilities and deadlines. Encourage open communication and active participation, fostering a collaborative team environment. Provide resources and support to help team members meet expectations. Regularly evaluate progress and provide constructive feedback. Foster a culture of accountability and recognize and reward achievements to motivate team members.
The next step is to define roles and responsibilities for each team member, as well as for yourself as the manager. Clarify what each person is expected to do, how they contribute to the team's goals, and how they interact with other team members and stakeholders. Use tools like RACI matrix (responsible, accountable, consulted, and informed) to assign tasks and decision-making authority. Avoid overlapping or conflicting roles and responsibilities, and ensure that everyone has the resources and support they need.
Thanks for letting us know! You'll no longer see this contribution
There should be defined roles for individuals, along with what is expected. Employees could should above and beyond, but what is the minimum that is expected needs to be conveyed from day 1 and there should be 1:1 on the development and changes needed.
Thanks for letting us know! You'll no longer see this contribution
Communicate Roles and Responsibilities:
Clearly outline the roles and responsibilities of each team member. Ensure that everyone understands what is expected of them. No imaginary targets, small goals leads to bigger opportunities.
Thanks for letting us know! You'll no longer see this contribution
I believe this step is crucial. You can utilize the 'Roles & Responsibilities' activity to gain a deeper understanding of what team members anticipate in terms of their responsibilities and what you expect from them. This exercise enables a convergence of perspectives, including roles, involvement in specific areas, and the degree of leadership or autonomy. I often apply this exercise with my teams as it not only fosters alignment but also enhances daily routines and collaboration.
Thanks for letting us know! You'll no longer see this contribution
During the process of defining roles is good to remember that even when it´s about to delegate, as a Manager we need to be present in every step of the way in the beginning to ensure that the person you set responsible is aligned and understood the vision and goals.
It´s always good to set the intentions to everyone to "own" their own process but always keep the expectations realistic.
Thanks for letting us know! You'll no longer see this contribution
To set team expectations for successful management, define roles and responsibilities clearly.
Clearly outline the specific duties and expectations for each team member, ensuring that everyone understands their unique contribution to the team's objectives.
Foster a collaborative environment where team members are aware of each other's roles, promoting seamless cooperation and reducing ambiguity.
By establishing a clear framework for individual responsibilities, you create a foundation for efficient teamwork and a shared commitment to achieving the team's goals.
Thanks for letting us know! You'll no longer see this contribution
These agreements are stored in project documentation, links to which are used in recorded messages in chats as well as in invitations to the meeting. Everything I ask my team to do must be described and easily accessible to the team and my management.
Thanks for letting us know! You'll no longer see this contribution
Transparently communicate the available roles and corresponding expectations within your team/organization. This is crucial not only for role clarity but also to provide a growth path for everyone in the team.
Thanks for letting us know! You'll no longer see this contribution
You need structure to organize and clarify, but you also never want to hear the words "that's not my job."
What's always worked best for me is making sure there is a basic outline of responsibility and authority, but keeping the boundaries between roles fuzzy enough that there is always a little healthy ambiguity about who owns things situated in the seams.
This + an attitude of ownership and bias for action gets your team proactive about grabbing things and driving them regardless of role or title, and this is a very healthy culture. When you have this, the customer never suffers because something that needed done languished because of administrative or bureaucratic nonsense.
Thanks for letting us know! You'll no longer see this contribution
We have all experienced team members delivering according to role and responsibility, but with low quality or poor interaction/communication. Be prepared to coach and adjust behaviour of team and team members during project lifespan.
The third step is to establish norms and standards for your team's work processes, communication, and behavior. Norms and standards are the rules and expectations that guide how your team operates and interacts. They can include things like work hours, deadlines, quality criteria, feedback mechanisms, meeting etiquette, conflict resolution, and recognition. Norms and standards help your team work more efficiently, effectively, and harmoniously. Communicate them clearly, document them, and enforce them consistently.
Thanks for letting us know! You'll no longer see this contribution
In this step I normally run terms and agreement session. Defining the main tool of communication, which meetings we will have as a team, what are the recurrence of 1-1s of follow up and career, what is the time we expected to be available to answer questions or participate in a meeting. What we value as a team and what we do not value, which behaviors we want to emphasize to be a better team. This session is very helpful and it's a good way to make a kick off with the team.
Thanks for letting us know! You'll no longer see this contribution
To set team expectations for successful management, establish norms and standards that govern team behavior.
Define communication protocols, meeting etiquette, and collaborative practices to create a cohesive and productive work environment.
Encourage open dialogue to establish shared values and expectations, ensuring that everyone contributes to a positive and respectful team culture.
By setting clear norms and standards, you create a framework that promotes accountability, collaboration, and a sense of collective responsibility, contributing to the team's overall success.
Thanks for letting us know! You'll no longer see this contribution
Just like company values, all too often norms and standards are more like a wish-list than reality.
Of course, raise standards, but first a real acceptance of what the norms actually are is crucial.
Thanks for letting us know! You'll no longer see this contribution
Standards and norms will, in the fullness of time, become rules. This is something to be super careful about.
Be careful not to let rules override judgment. Too many rules can stifle creativity and suck the joy out of a work environment. The process isn't the thing, the standard isn't the thing, the norm isn't the thing ... the *customer* is the thing.
With a culture of customer obsession, the organization's raison d'etre stays in clear view, and the rules and standards which attach over time like barnacles on a ship never become an impediment to acting with speed and purpose to delight the customer.
This is not to say norms and standards should not be had. But keep them sparing and lightweight, lest you weigh yourself down.
Thanks for letting us know! You'll no longer see this contribution
I think it is important to communicate norms and standards clearly and concisely. This can be done by creating a manual or guidelines or by conducting training sessions. It is also important to consistently enforce norms and standards. This shows your team that you adhere to the rules and that you expect them to do the same.
Thanks for letting us know! You'll no longer see this contribution
Establishing norms and standards can be a fun team exercise because we all get to revisit and share experiences in which we learned. Having conversations on how we personally have "failed" or fell short of expectations, tends to open us all up to understanding how a team fails or succeeds together based on agreed upon established standards. If not done lightheartedly, this conversation can get defensive really quickly and people can feel like the conversation is passively directed at them.
The fourth step is to monitor and measure your team's progress towards your goals and expectations. Use data and metrics to track and evaluate your team's performance, output, and outcomes. Provide regular and constructive feedback to your team members, both individually and collectively. Recognize and reward achievements, and address and correct issues. Use tools like dashboards, reports, surveys, and check-ins to monitor and measure progress.
Thanks for letting us know! You'll no longer see this contribution
These are great for specific personality types. Get to know your line report/team members so you can have meaningful connection with them to help them navigate what they want to achieve. Be strategic in the way you get the message across and provide the space and guidance to get them to perform and from time to time (depending on how you’ve strategically set this out) go in there and motivate, navigate, empower and instruct.
Thanks for letting us know! You'll no longer see this contribution
To set team expectations for successful management, establish a system to monitor and measure progress regularly.
Implement key performance indicators (KPIs) that align with the team's goals, allowing for objective assessment.
Schedule periodic check-ins to review progress, address challenges, and celebrate achievements.
By actively monitoring and measuring progress, you create a transparent and accountable environment that keeps the team focused on the overarching objectives and encourages continuous improvement.
Thanks for letting us know! You'll no longer see this contribution
In my opinion, monitoring and measuring progress is one of the most important step in making the team successful. Organizations are using tools to measure the progress against the baseline. Each team members should be able to measure his/her own progress and should be able to appraise the performance.
Thanks for letting us know! You'll no longer see this contribution
Well this is my favorite. Bug trackers such as jira or azure dev ops have a lot of built-in analytics, they make it possible to build burn down charts or build a project roadmap; such data is also easy and convenient to share with the team. But for very complex cases there is always excel
Thanks for letting us know! You'll no longer see this contribution
Select goals that tether to your values. This ensures that as you navigate, you don't betray your organization's intended ethos and end up with the wrong culture.
When you have goals clear, select intelligent metrics that help you understand progress. It'll be tempting to measure what is readily quantifiable, but this is a trap. You need to innovate ways to measure everything core to your performance.
Where possible, focus on the inputs rather than outputs, which can be distorted by many factors. If your inputs are right, the outputs will eventually follow.
For example, a highly productive shift (output) might make you happy. But if your shift plan (input) contemplated this level of productivity, then you've merely hit, not exceeded.
The final step is to review and revise your expectations as needed. Expectations are not static; they may change over time due to internal or external factors, such as new challenges, opportunities, feedback, or learning. Review your expectations periodically, and involve your team in the process. Assess what is working well and what needs improvement. Adjust your expectations accordingly, and communicate the changes to your team. Keep your expectations realistic, relevant, and responsive.
By setting team expectations for successful management, you can create a clear direction, a shared understanding, and a positive culture for your team. You can also empower your team to perform at their best, deliver value to your organization, and grow in their careers.
Thanks for letting us know! You'll no longer see this contribution
It is advisable to maintain agility to make sure we do not become rigid from either side where overall objective is lost.
Be open to adjust the objectives in case of scope changes in alignment with the employee and also ensure there is a periodic feedback mechanism to track progress towards the overall objectives.
Thanks for letting us know! You'll no longer see this contribution
To set team expectations for successful management, adopt a culture of continuous improvement by regularly reviewing and revising expectations.
Embrace feedback from team members and stakeholders, using it to assess the relevance and effectiveness of established norms, goals, and roles.
Be flexible in adapting expectations to changing circumstances and evolving team dynamics.
This iterative process ensures that expectations remain aligned with the team's purpose and organizational goals, fostering resilience and agility within the team.
Thanks for letting us know! You'll no longer see this contribution
With each colleague in the team, we usually hold a 1:1 meeting at least once a month, where we discuss all open questions, and also ask the employee to give two ratings from 0 to 10 of his satisfaction with the project and the company, and if not 10, then explain what he can improve it, it goes on the task list and gets done. Employees are also periodically assessed for their satisfaction with their current manager, which provides feedback for the next level of decision-making.
Thanks for letting us know! You'll no longer see this contribution
Periodically, conduct a comprehensive assessment of team expectations through feedback collection, performance evaluation, and alignment of goals with dynamic project requirements. Cultivate an open dialogue within the team to identify challenges and fine-tune expectations accordingly. Assure that expectations persist in being pragmatic, attainable, and in harmony with the overarching vision. This continual process augments adaptability and substantiates the team's overarching success in proficient management.
Thanks for letting us know! You'll no longer see this contribution
ch denke, dass es wichtig ist, Erwartungen regelmäßig zu überprüfen und zu überarbeiten. Dies zeigt Ihrem Team, dass Sie an Ihren Erwartungen interessiert sind und dass Sie bereit sind, sie zu ändern, wenn dies erforderlich ist.
Ich stimme auch zu, dass die Festlegung von Erwartungen für ein erfolgreiches Management wichtig ist. Durch die Festlegung von Erwartungen können Sie ein Umfeld schaffen, in dem alle erfolgreich sein können.
Thanks for letting us know! You'll no longer see this contribution
Every manager in an organization is juggling and attempting to balance three imperatives.
Leadership: people, teams, values, culture, chemistry, environment. This is where you drive behaviors that become ingrained as a culture over time.
Management: KPIs, resources, priorities, adjustments. This is where you make steering inputs to stay aligned to strategy.
Administration: rules, policies, structure, order. This is the frame of the organization, and where it controls risk and creates stability.
As time progresses, the tendency is for management and administration to knock leadership off course. Know this, anticipate it, and guard against having your culture and work environment blown off course by these other forces.
Thanks for letting us know! You'll no longer see this contribution
Team only expects what you potray, being a manager one must always put realistic scenario infront, dont over bend things ,,just to make ur team feel happy, manage with clear mind with clear approach, n yes always put practical means rather than confusing managment approach with your idealized approach
Thanks for letting us know! You'll no longer see this contribution
One important aspect of setting expectations is to consider how generational, ethnic, and gender cohorts perceive the messaging. Gen X and Millennials will have different interpretations of the messaging, so you may need to have multiple messaging strategies. Different ethnic groups will have differing power distances, requiring you know the best strategies for collecting feedback. Consider the audience when you set expectations to ensure the message is delivered well.
Thanks for letting us know! You'll no longer see this contribution
Sometimes you just have to keep your calm ;
Everyone has there style of dealing things especially when you are working with different styles you just have to keep your calm as many things clashes
So being a good observant becomes a key
Think of getting crazy on every point that goes against your style
So just first manage your thoughts and be ready for any alternative and alterations
Flexibility is important
See it suits you
Thanks for letting us know! You'll no longer see this contribution
Be in sync with your team regularly.
1:1 meetings are key to align right expectations and gain valuable insights into your team members needs.
Provide needed support and motivation for growth.
Set direction and collaborate closely.
Be empathetic and open minded to foster trust.
Thanks for letting us know! You'll no longer see this contribution
Understand that team members join a project from different angles and that indivial goals/target may be different or directly contradicting to the goal and purpose of the project. Use 180degree view to understand why the individual team member act or not act the way you would have expected. Seek common goal where the individual team members also shine and learn.
Thanks for letting us know! You'll no longer see this contribution
In setting expectations with teams, how about combining?
1️⃣ Clear communication with space for playbacks
2️⃣ Proper timing
3️⃣ Reframing intentions to ensure a people-centric approach, using each interaction intentionally to build trust and accountability
Thanks for letting us know! You'll no longer see this contribution
Define clear goals and communicate them alongside the company vision. Assign specific roles and responsibilities—set standards for behaviour and teamwork. Ensure resources and training are available. Encourage a culture of feedback and accountability. Have regular check-ins to monitor progress. Recognize and reward achievements. Be adaptable to change and encourage flexibility.
Thanks for letting us know! You'll no longer see this contribution
Além dos itens muito bem pontuados aqui, considero importante conhecer as características, necessidades e expectativas individuais dos membros da equipe, porque desta forma, você atua individualmente auxiliando o desenvolvimento do profissional ao mesmo tempo que vai “trilhando” um caminho em busca de um resultado para “o todo”. Promover conversas individuais e em grupo, incentivar a transparência e desenvolver a confiança entre todos, atuando rapidamente em relação ao que precisa ser melhorado e incentivando a comemoração em relação as vitórias.