 Does it seem like sometimes you're not getting what you're asking for? Solving that problem is all about setting expectations. Welcome back, leaders, and congratulations on taking one more step towards becoming one of the great leaders of tomorrow. When we want to get our teams performing at a really high level, one of the best things we can do is to set very clear expectations for the members of our team. So today I'm going to give you some tips on how to do that and get your team firing out all cylinders. Before we can communicate our expectations to our team members, we have to engage in some effective goal setting. Without setting effective goals, we leave the outcome up to interpretation by our individual team members, and that's where we can get a disconnect between what we think we've asked our team members for and what they provide. Now, if you've got questions about how to set effective goals, go back and check out our video on goal setting from a couple of weeks ago. But the highlights of that video are is when you're setting goals, they need to be clear, they need to be measurable, and they need to be achievable. Once you've got your goal defined in terms of being clear, measurable, and achievable, now communicate that goal to your team members. Define for them very clearly what the outcome is that you have in mind, and not just the nuts and bolts and physical characteristics of it, but what the look and feel of the outcome is to you. Share your vision of the outcome with the team so that they can show initiative to try to meet what you're asking for. Next, you're going to want to define the products that you expect from your team. What is it that you expect them to have done at the end of the project? Is it a report or a presentation? Is it a new installation of a system or a capability? Or is it even something like building a collaborative new relationship with someone else in your industry? Once you've got your products defined, now you'll want to talk to your team about how they're going to implement processes to achieve the end state you're looking for. If your product is highly dependent on quality and repeatability of that quality, you may want to set an expectation of strict adherence to the processes that are laid out to achieve this end state. And if you're looking more for innovation and creativity, you may want to focus a little less on adherence to the process and focus more on the end state products that you expect your team to provide. Also, when setting expectations with your team, make sure to include some progress milestones or timeline goals to keep your team on track. When you're setting these goals, it's important to not set them too aggressively because that can result in your team rushing to get the work done to get to you. And it's important not to set them too far out in the future because then the work might languish and fall by the wayside while people are working on other priorities. Along with setting timelines and milestones, it's also important to be really clear on what other metrics you'll use to measure the performance of your team, whether it's units produced, distance covered, or people served, be really clear with your team about how you're going to be measuring their performance so that they can adjust their performance accordingly to meet your expectations. Finally, even after you've communicated your expectations to your team, it's important to keep those lines of communication going. And when you do talk with your team, have purpose. As we've talked about before, status meetings without structure aren't usually effective. When you bring your team together, have an agenda and an idea of the questions that you want to get answered by your team. It's also important to use all the tools that you have available. Using things like email, chat, or even social media can give you a really good idea of how your team is progressing on their project without having to bring them all together in the same room. Also, be available to answer any questions that your team might have or clarify any interpretations or misinterpretations they might have about what you're looking for. So give these tips for setting expectations a try and see what effect they have on your team. Let us know in the comments how it works out for you. And come back later in the week, we're going to have more on setting expectations in the blog. The best way for you to get a hold of that, click on that globe off to the right, subscribe to our email list, and all of our content will come direct to your inbox. Thanks for joining us today. I appreciate it. And remember, the future is out there. Lead the way.