Clarify Expectations - Align with Your Boss

Posted on October 18, 2019 by Pushpendra Singh, One of Thousands of Executive Coaches on Noomii.

You will find that most of the time boss’ view is that you are not performing as per the expectations and are falling short. This comes out in the open at the time of the annual review. You feel that you have done a great job and the boss is not recognising your performance. This leads to unhappiness and feeling of disgruntlement in you. The boss sees unreasonable or whining response from you. This scene is played out again and again with different bosses and various organisations. This can be said to be one of the most important factors leading career derailment if not addressed and sorted out. We look at the factors leading to it and what could be possible solutions.
One of the frequently reported factors is the understanding of expectations that are not the same on both sides. You are not fully clear on what you are supposed to do. The complete set of expectations is not clear to you. This sounds very simple to solve but in reality, the clarity and understanding of expectations is difficult to achieve. Let us go deeper into this and try to understand how this can happen.
Many times, the bosses think that they have communicated the expectations to you, and it has been understood. Boss assumes that what is in his head also exists in your mind. There are many things in the mind of boss that have not been communicated. Some things are either taken for granted or assumed to be known to other person and the gaps remain. You are not able to understand expectations fully as the balance information exists in the mind of the Boss and he or she didn’t notice or realise it. You hesitate to ask for fear of being judged incompetent or not understanding simple things or other emotional factors in your mind. However, you do not have the same broader vision of the organisation that boss has. Most of the information is with the boss, you are not privy to it. Hence you can only partially understand what should be done. When the yearend comes, and the discussion starts with the boss and he observes performance has not been met. The boss feels that you have underperformed, and you feel boss is judging unfairly. This creates strained relationship.
The Bosses also do not check whether the expectations have been understood. Bosses assume that when they have told expectations, you know what is said and unsaid. Simple communication philosophy that any communication is incomplete till entire data is transmitted and message comes back of it being received is not followed. Here it should be remembered that not only documenting it but also checking the understanding is equally important. It sounds stupid and many bosses may find it awkward to do so. But initiative has to be taken by you. You will suffer more due to slackness on this front.
Next you wait for the boss to give feedback when he wants to or has free time or whenever the annual review will happen. In such situations you may not be keeping up to the expectations and may not be aware of your not being able to fulfil these. You keep on doing the job and feel great and happy. Till you reach the point when formal review takes place and discover the gap has happened. You think that the responsibility of giving in-between feedback lies with the boss. The boss may not see the urgency and the need to give feedback or he is busy with important tasks. Onus lies on you to choose the frequency and seek confirmation whether you are fulfilling the expectations. If there are any gaps or shortcomings you should solicit regular feedback and take inputs for course correction. You have to remember the responsibility of your career and life lies with you, not with the boss. You can change your behaviour and actions rather than that of your boss. So, you should act, make conscious and continued attempts to take inputs so that you are not surprised at the year-end. The gaps between what you do and what is perceived by Boss will not exist. You will feel whatever you’ve got is what was deserved, and the heartburn will not happen.
Many times, you assume that it’s boss’s responsibility to make expectations clear. Sometimes you hesitate because of the gap in the level, hierarchical culture, personality issues and a host of reasons. If you are hoping to keep it vague as it gives loopholes to escape and push back at the time of review then this kind of behaviour may allow you to get away in the short run but finally you will be creating negative impressions in the mind of the Boss. If Boss’ overall performance is affected due to the games you play, he will make sure you suffer one day. Ultimately you will suffer if the boss is affected. Hence it is better to be prudent to take the pain now and get clarity even if it means more work or tough to fulfil expectations.
Sometimes it may happen that you are not fully involved or committed to the job and you are actually not delivering your full potential. You have to accept this reality that your performance is affected by your own mental attitude rather than some actions of the boss. This could happen due to various reasons of taking a job that does not challenge or interest you or you are emotionally disturbed for some reasons and that is disconnecting you from the task. In such cases you have to pull yourself out of this mental state. You need help and should talk to a genuine and trustworthy colleague who will give honest advice. If you cannot find one or the colleague is not available, then look for a mentor or a professional coach. You should look at solutions within yourself rather than blaming the boss or the company for your poor performance.
It can also happen that your perspective is different from your boss’s perspective. You feel that the boss has asked you to do things which are not important, and you should be doing something else. Because you start doing what you consider important and do not focus on boss’ priority you start working in a different direction and try to fulfil parameters different from what is expected out of you. You have worked hard, done a good job but on something that was not what company wanted you to concentrate on. Hard work and good output but you still get poor ratings, resulting in frustration. The answer for this is to understand boss’s perspective and avoid thinking he is wrong. Mostly he or she has a broader view of the organisation which you do not have. The solution would be to reflect and understand boss’s perspective and go with your boss expectations. Fulfil them not blindly but with full understanding to deliver excellent performance.
You also may tend to promise more than you can deliver. Either in the eagerness to please you promised more output or within a shorter time or with insufficient resources which is beyond the capacity or capability. In such situations you always fall short of the expectations and then feel unhappy. This is a classic case of over promise and under delivery. You have to see the solution lies within you rather than expecting boss to be sympathetic and understanding. You have to judge the style and nature of the Boss. Does he appreciate risk takers or wants more realistic style of work. You have to adapt to his nature and commit. Then you will not have to depend on sympathy and get disappointed.
Fundamentally you can do a lot to align with the Boss. These are:
• Ask what is expected from you. Document it. If in doubt, ask again. Even later when doing job new things emerge, modify the expectations.
• Take frequent feedback to correct yourself and understand the gaps.
• Don’t play a game of using vagueness or any point which boss missed out to your advantage.
• Put your full heart in the job
• Understand his perspective don’t assume him to be wrong.
• Promise what can be delivered