By Erin R. Lubsy-Donovan, M.Ed, BCBA
A leader engages in behaviors which create opportunities for employees to perform in line with a company’s mission and values. A critical skill for leaders is communication of their organization’s rules and expectations. The manner in which these rules are communicated and disseminated can have direct positive or negative impacts on employee’s performance and a company’s desired outcomes.
Breakdown and inaccuracy of expectations can have undesired effects within an organization. Often, when employees receive unclear rules, they engage in gossip and rumors. Gossip and rumors often result as employees attempt to make sense of what was unclearly communicated by leadership (see Smith, Houmanfar, & Denny, 2009).
When you want employees to complete a task in a specific way and no creative flexibility or ingenuity is called for in developing the solution, then you should make sure that you describe what is expected of your employees using the following guidelines:
Be Explicit – Detailed explanations of each of expectations should be communicated with clear descriptions of when the expectation or policy applies and what the expected results should be when expectations are met or not met.
Keep it Simple – Policies and expectations should be written in a simple manner. The more complex, the more room there is for misunderstanding.
Be Accurate – Make sure to accurately describe conditions where the expectations or policies described are relevant and the outcomes, based on that particular individual’s role.
Be Complete – Make sure communications are complete. Incomplete expectations leave out information and tend to result in employees filling in the gaps.
Good communication of policies and expectations keep employee behaviors in line with an organization’s practice and mission. Following the guidelines listed above can aid in ensuring your employees engaged in desired behaviors within your organization. For more information on rules and communication in organization, see the references below.
Ready to work with us? Set up a free consultation to learn more.