Evaluating Performance Expectations

The right way to set expectations is to sit down with your employees and discuss everyone’s needs and expectations. Then come to a mutually agreed solution.

An good approach for employees to best meet expectations is to focus on “what” your desired outcome or vision is. It allows employees to feel more invested in the process toward completion.

Employee expectations to maintain:

• Displaying a positive and respectful attitude
• Working with honesty and integrity
• Performing their work to a reasonable standard 

Employees expectations;

• Proper training, support and leadership from management and access to resources
• Timely and accurate payment of wages
• Safe working environments
• Explanation of responsibilities, company policies and procedures
• Regular feedback from supervisors or managers.

Team expectations refer to the behaviors that occur while working together on tasks. 

• Respect and courtesy to everyone.
• Be accountable for your work.
• Be reasonably flexible about task assignments.
• Be willing to lend a helping hand.
• Ask for help when needed.
• Work safely together.
• Be open to constructive feedback.
• Be self-motivated and reliable.
• Share ideas for improvement.
• Be cheerful, positive and encouraging to other team members.

Most effective one on one meetings typically last about 30 minutes:

• 10 minutes for the direct report from the employee;
• 10 minutes for the manager’s remarks and messages, and;
• 10 minutes for the employee and manager to draw a way forward.

• find out about the employee’s current emotional state.
• track the status of the employee’s performance and how their goals are coming along.
• learn if there are any obstacles in the way to the employee’s goals.
• discuss specific issues – either the employee’s, the manager’s, or both.
• get honest value-added feedback from the employee.
• provide an opportunity for the manager to coach the employee.
• share formal and informal information about the team and company as a whole.

Even high-performing employees can face a decline in job performance and engagement when working remotely. This can be due to:

• Lack of face-to-face supervision, which leads to a two-way communication gap and even mistrust.
• There is a delay in the procurement of information as remote workers aren’t able to sense the atmosphere and real-time events at the workplace, leading to a lack of ‘mutual knowledge’.
• A sense of isolation among remote workers, leading to a feeling of less belongingness within the organization.
• Distractions at home due to unplanned work-from-home transition, with employees balancing childcare and many other responsibilities along with work.

A few specific, research-backed steps that can be taken to improve the engagement and productivity of remote employees:

• Establishing Structured Daily check-ins, by establishing a daily call or touchpoint.
• Providing several different communication technology options, using virtual communication tools like Slack, Zoom, Microsoft Teams etc., and making use of video conferencing.
• Establishing clear rules of engagement for communicating with the coworkers or the managers, according to the levels of urgency.
• Providing opportunities for remote social interaction by talking about non-work activities, thereby reducing the feeling of isolation among remote workers.
• Offering encouragement and emotional support by listening to the workers, acknowledging their stress, and keeping their needs and issues in focus.

• If this is a new process you are putting in place at your company/in your team, be transparent about it.
• Be clear that you do this with all employees who work directly for you.
• Book a regular cadence of 1:1s. They should not be ad-hoc. It’s ok to skip one every once and awhile, but having it locked into the calendar is a commitment.
• Decide the best cadence with them (weekly or every other week? 30 minutes or an hour?) and what the format should be.

• Topics in a 1:1 should be about professional growth, personal connection and for giving each other feedback. Do not use the meeting to re-hash things from a group meeting, unless there are specific things you took off-line in that meeting or need to provide/get constructive feedback.
• 24 hours or so before the meeting, email the employee a list of what you’d like to cover. Try to do a split between strategic, tactical and personal items and always ask your employee what they want to cover too. 

• Positive vs. negative. Positive feedback confirms that someone is taking good action, while negative feedback shows what actions need to be corrected.
• Formal vs. informal. Formal feedback is given on a set schedule, and informal feedback is short and follows after an action or event.
• Annual vs. monthly
• Verbal vs. written
• Manager vs. peer

• Objective. Don't let your personal feelings get in the way.
• Timely. Feedback should follow when the event is still fresh.
• Constructive. Give respect and show that you have their best interests in mind.
• Actionable. Feedback must include immediate next steps.
• Warranted. Give your employees room for mistakes and learn from them.

Communication is essential and comes first when setting expectations with your team.

Have a plan in place from the start to ensure your team understands what you are expecting from them.

For example, should they report every task they complete? Is there a set amount of time in which they should be able to reply to emails?

Your team will work as a unit if every member is aware of their own responsibilities and the importance of their work in the organization.

This can be accomplished by creating a document that describes their role in the company in detail.

• Do not make assumptions about a disengaged employee's performance. While statistically, such employees do underperform, there can be other reasons too.
• Do not force an employee to be someone they are not. Everyone cannot be happy and optimistic all the time.
• Do not get emotional, and stick to a transactional, formal, work-focused style. Do not expect to win their hearts or influence them by appealing to their emotions.
• Do not assign employees tasks beyond their area of expertise.

• Use extrinsic motivating factors such as incentives and rewards to get productivity from a disengaged employee.
• Understand what drives them, connect with them, gaining their trust and respect without being emotional, and focus on what they value.
• Respect an employee's personal space and their need to distance their problems from their work.

Ultimately, it is what an employee delivers that matters most, and a manager has to focus on figuring out how to get the work done.

The goal of an effective 1:1 is not an update from your direct report or for you to lay down some instructions. It's a conversation. It's a chance to hear about your direct reports' ideas for your product, their career goals, and possibly their opinion of their performance.

Keep a list of three potential topics ready for discussion. When they say they have nothing to discuss, you can jumpstart the conversation with one of your items.

Your most precious resource is your own time and energy. When you spend it on your team, it helps build healthy relationships.

Your job as a manager isn't to give advice or 'save the day.'' It's to empower your reports to find the answer themselves. If you want to understand what's going on, ask. Let her lead the conversation while you listen and probe.

Good managers provide continuous feedback to them. This allows the employee to quickly make course corrections and to feel successful.

Employers should be mindful of those they promote into leadership positions. Strong communication skills are a must when leading a team of people and coaching on this area might be necessary for some.

A good manager is empathetic to people and demonstrates this routinely.

If empathy is not a trait in a candidate for management, pair them with a leader who can mentor them on how to manage people before promoting them.