Understanding what is expected of you at work comes down to these elements.
By Bruce Tulgan, JD
No matter what type of work you do, from the outset of any assignment you need to make sure that you understand exactly what you are expected to do and exactly how you are expected to do it.
I am often surprised at how many people tell me, “I don’t want to have a boss standing over my shoulder telling me what to do and how to do it all the time. They should just let me do my job.” But then in the next breath, many of these same people complain that their bosses fail to convey expectations clearly enough.
Perhaps you don’t want a boss standing over your shoulder, but on the other hand, who do you blame when you discover after days or weeks or months that you have been doing something wrong without even knowing it? Who do you blame when you realize you weren’t told of key details of your assignment? Who do you blame when you learn you weren’t taught all the steps required in an important work process? Your boss.
While you may not want your boss standing over your shoulder telling you what to do and how to do it all the time, typically you don’t have much to worry about: Most managers don’t have the time or inclination to do so. Sure, there are some managers who don’t hesitate to bark out step-by-step marching orders. As long as you can tolerate the bark and you can take notes quickly with a smile on your face, then there is a big upside to these managers: At least you know exactly what’s expected of you. But the reality is that a huge number of managers do the opposite. They tell me, “I shouldn’t have to tell my employees what to do and how to do it. They should know how to do their jobs already.”
Often these bosses don’t want to boss you around; they want you to feel a sense of “ownership” in your work. They like asking lots of questions and seeking input from you. They listen, make suggestions, and try to lead you to the right conclusions. They really want you to reach the right conclusions on your own. They often say, “I like to let employees learn from their own mistakes.”
I think: What cruel bosses! Why wouldn’t they want to help their employees avoid those unnecessary mistakes? Why wouldn’t they help you learn to do things really well by practicing doing things right? It is simply a fallacy that practicing wrong ways of doing things is a good way to learn how to do things right. If you have to reinvent the wheel every time you do a new task, responsibility, or project, then you will probably spend too much time developing bad habits from inadvertently learning and practicing bad techniques. Trial and error is a good way to solve a unique problem, but it is not a good way to learn an established best practice, task, or responsibility.
And it’s certainly not the way to give you “ownership” of your work. After all, you are paid to do specific tasks within closely defined parameters. It’s actually not up to you what you do at work and how you do it. You “own” your job only when you know what you are supposed to do and how you are supposed to do it—and what is not up to you and exactly what is. Only when you understand exactly what is required of you and exactly where you have the discretion to make decisions and take action are you truly empowered.
The myth of the “facilitative approach”
Real power in the workplace rarely comes in the form of being left alone to do whatever you think should be done however you think it should be done. Rather, power comes from having the responsibility to accomplish specific tasks and projects in certain ways at certain times delegated to you.
Most managers who adopt a “facilitative” approach to managing (helping you “figure things out on your own”), rather than an explicitly “directive” approach (delegating tasks by giving clear directions and spelling out expectations), do so because it’s much easier to sidestep the uncomfortable tension that comes from telling other people exactly what to do.
But you need clear marching orders. The real trick to gaining power through effective delegation is helping your bosses figure out the goals, guidelines, and timelines that are appropriate for each assignment. To do so, you need to maintain an ongoing dialogue with them about every assignment on your to-do list. This is the only way to ensure you are getting the three key elements essential to understanding what is expected of you for every project, task, or responsibility assigned to you:
Clear goals: Establish what the end product should look like. What deliverables are you responsible for completing?
Detailed parameters: Learn the specifications and requirements for each individual project, task, or responsibility assigned to you. How do you need to do this task?
Accurate deadlines: Determine when you are expected to complete the project. What is the schedule of deliverables for all the steps necessary to meet this goal?
Whenever you are expected to do a project or task, then you must engage your boss in order to provide you these three key elements. You must get him or her to spell out in vivid detail exactly what you are expected to do. If you are expected to do something in a particular way, then you need to talk with your boss until he or she spells out in clear and specific detail exactly what specifications you are expected to follow. At the very least, you need to know the bare minimum requirements and the gold standard of performance, the cardinal rules of conduct, and the outer limits of your discretion. No matter how self-sufficient, responsible, and hardworking you may be, nobody can function successfully on a sustained basis without at least some structure and boundaries.
Originally published at Psychology Today