A few weeks ago, Michelle, Isabella, and I flew back to Canada to visit my mom on the farm.
My sister promised to come by and “help out” with Isabella.
Michelle and I made some assumptions…
And then were disappointed.
To us, “help out” meant something very different than it did to my sister.
We had certain expectations (30 minute breaks for Michelle)…
My sister had different expectations (5 minutes of play before going back to her computer)…
This was my fault.
I did not work with my sister in advance to clearly communicate so that we could share the same “specific definition of expectations and success”.
And I see the same scenario playing out all the time with clients.
Mismanaged expectations and lack of communication leads to stressful team situations.
For example, take the gym owner that hires a personal trainer for their technical ability…
…and then suddenly demands the personal trainer become a Master Salesperson…
Even though the personal trainer is shy, hates the idea of selling, and never once in the job interview process was told they would have to do sales!
Another example is a mistake I made 15 years ago…
I hired my first beginner assistant to do some errands and data entry…
And then suddenly expected her to provide marketing ideas, write some basic sales copy, and generate leads.
It didn’t end well.
This happens all the time with business owners.
We change our expectations… the team member feels bad… tensions grow… and the next thing you know, we lose a potentially great team member.
All because of mismanaged expectations.
Fortunately, there are solutions to avoid these breakdowns in communication.
And to fix any simmering tensions among your team members.
To do that, let’s go back to basics…
And get an assessment of where you and your team are right now.
There are three questions to ask about your team:
1. Would I enthusiastically rehire each team member?
2. If not, is it a matter of skill or commitment?
3. What is the #1 seat on my team to upgrade in the next 90 days?
After that we ask…
- Have you communicated clear expectations to each team member?
- Has the team member explicitly agreed to meet these expectations?
- Do you need to reset your agreement & expectations with existing team members?
This is where an A-player Agreement comes in. It allows you to:
a) Start off on the right foot with new team members
b) And perhaps more importantly, reset expectations with existing team members
Rick Crossland wrote a book about A-Players and developed the A-Player agreement that we use in our business.
I highly recommend checking it out.
One of the big problems I see in businesses is that good employees go bad…
Which typically happens because the team member doesn’t know your expectations of them, or doesn’t know your original expectations have shifted.
And because they don’t share your new expectations they don’t do what you want...
Which frustrates you, even though they think they are doing what you want!
When they were hired, what expectations were agreed upon between you and them?
Whatever those expectations were, those are the ones they are using as their daily target.
Chances are you have silently shifted the expectations in your head… but didn’t tell them.
And now you’re ticked off that they are missing the new target… that they don’t know to aim at!
A good exercise for you and your team members is this…
You both separately write down:
a) A sentence describing the expectations of the role they are in
b) The 3 top daily and 3 top weekly or monthly actions for the role they are in
Now compare what you wrote and what they wrote.
Chances are the answers will be “out of whack”.
And the longer they have been part of the team, the more out of whack they will likely be!
The Solution: You must go back and implement A-Player Agreements so expectations are aligned — and agreed upon by both sides.
If people still do not meet expectations after a certain time, then it’s clear they are in the wrong seat on the bus… they might still be on the right bus, but they aren’t in the right seat.
If someone on your team seems to be struggling or not delivering the results you expected…
Refer back to this process and ask yourself these questions.
It’s very likely you’ll discover the issue or at least know where to begin a conversation with that team member.
Remember, your leadership can only ever be as good as your communication.
And leadership is everything when it comes to building any business — especially a freedom business that allows you to live the lifestyle of your dreams.
Success Loves Speed,
Craig
PS - Want weekly LIVE trainings to improve your productivity, transform your marketing, and close more sales? Join our private FB community >> HERE
PPS - Want 1:1 mentorship to grow your business AND have more free time? Just REPLY to this email with the word “FREEDOM” and we’ll set up a time to connect with you to see if we can help.
|
