New Boss ? How to set great expectations

David had sent the briefest of emails earlier that Tuesday in early November….Gareth – can I see you, I am having an awful time in my new job, have you time tonight ? I really, really need your advice ? Thx. David

So here I was four hours later, in a local hotel, that I sometimes use for coaching my executive clients. David flopped down in front of me. Almost in tears. He blurted out. “Gareth I just don’t know where I am up to, 12 months into my new job, I haven’t a clue how I’m doing. I’m really worried, I think my boss hates me and so do I think my new team. It’s gone from dream job to job from hell in 12 months. I haven’t seen my boss for 6 months. What should I do ? Just tell me.”

Now anyone in management knows, the best managers take time out to set expectations and develop their people. That takes a combination of proactive planning and strong execution.

Additionally, any effective manager knows that they must be totally in touch with their team. They know that their team design, unity and psychological health has a huge impact on the performance they deliver. Telling the team ‘to get on with it ‘ is not enough – the manager must be a good coach to them too. This needs solid management skills and regular contact with your team. Something David’s boss had left behind long ago.

In my work, I’ve noticed that the best managers do four things. They Identify Talent, Set Expectations, Motivate their staff and Develop people. All four play a role in success. Here I’ll focus on just three practical steps I asked David to put in place with his boss, all around the theme of Setting Expectations.

Here’s the advice I gave David …

Firstly, I asked David, when was the last time that you had a meeting with your boss “Early June”. That was Five months ago. No wonder they were out of touch. My advice was…First things first, immediately set up monthly 1 to 1 meetings. Schedule monthly meetings into both your diaries. Calendarise these for the next year. Yes the next year. This will say that you are a) serious about this relationship and b) plan excellently.

Secondly, clearly set expectation for your monthly meeting. This means carefully designing the agenda. Give it to your boss, at least a week before the meeting to check. They may not read it and may just respond with an ‘okay’ but even if they do you’ve given them an opportunity. The agenda should cover 2 things. Strategy and Performance. 1/3 of the hours meeting is on Strategy. What direction are we both going in? 2/3 is on performance. Performance needs to have data. So you can improve and prove improvement down the line. Ask your boss 2 questions. 1 Tell me the things I am doing well in. Then. 2 Tell me where I need to improve. Now you have something to work with, instead of guesswork. Always, always best to know even the bad news, so that you can deal with it and it’s flushed out into the open. Then say, “Finally, over the next month, until we meet again, what is the ONE THING, I need to give my priority to keep us on track? ” Then say, I’ll type up the notes, scan and send them. On page maximum. But make sure you follow up immediately and press send. This is because it’s fresh and accurate that boss knows you’re taking it things seriously.

Finally, once you’ve had the meeting. Write the notes up immediately, scan and send a record to them. Use this process for next times meeting. Everything will get clearer and improve over the coming weeks and months. And finally, use this simple 3 step process with your own direct reports, to improve clarity and certainty for those you have been entrusted to manage too.

Now almost a month later I received an email from David. Almost elated, his meeting had gone incredibly well. His boss explained that he was just so busy and that he had slipped in hid routine management duties, he thanked David for setting up the meeting and taking proactive and organized action. The boss was so impressed that he asked David  to help him use the process for managing his other direct reports. David is now on his way to impressing his boss, has a clear strategic focus, knows how he is performing and has a clear line of sight for the year ahead, never more than 14 days away from meeting the boss. Happy Boss. Happy David.

In summary, how we set the expectations and provide clarity to the people that we’ve been entrusted by our companies to manage, is tremendously important for you, for them and for our companies. Taking these 3 simple steps of management discipline are vitally important.

If you aren’t doing this, then take those 3 steps. Just like David did.  Start Today.