Motivating People - Setting Expectations

The ability to work with ambiguity is something that all of us have to pick up.  Especially in the BPO/KPO/ ITO industry in India.  We are so used to clear, rules based work that anything ambiguous just foxes us.  We just do not experiment around to figure things out.  This is because our focus on process has just dumbed us down.

People struggle to different extents depending on how ambiguous the work is.  This is why, as leaders, it is very important to set clear expectations of the role.  What has worked for me over the years has been setting expectations clearly so that I know what I want of my team and my team knows what my expectations are. They, in turn, sit with their teams and then come back to me to re-negotiate expectations if they seem not achievable.  This goes on till we come to meet on common grounds.  However, this time is well spent as there is no point in jumping in to a car and driving if we do not know where we are headed to.

However, expectations and the role itself will not be clear all the times.  As we go higher up the ladder, it becomes that much more fuzzy.  So, we need to adapt ourselves to handle this ambiguity of not knowing what is expected of the role.  This is where leadership comes in.  We need to define the role and figure out what could be the expectations of the role from stakeholders and then gain acceptance from stakeholders on what they could expect from you in the role.

I have worked in many situations where nothing was defined and I just needed to get in, work things out for myself and set a path.  While treading the path, you will make mistakes (like taking a wrong turning on the road).  But then, you just need to recognize that, retrace your steps and take the right route again.  When I started setting up a global back office for a company and wanted to introduce a Business Controls function, I was told that it already exists in Risk.  I had already hired 3 people for the function.  I quickly redeployed two of them while the third left the company.  I took course correction to disband the function even though I knew that it was essential.  After 4 years, the company established the same function under a different name.  Someone got this and asked me as to why this function could not have been created 4 years ago when I had suggested it.  I just told him that I had been a bit too early for the company to accept this. 

While expectations can be clear, ambiguity and maturity of the organization can hamper progress.  So, you need to also understand and time the organization well.  Otherwise, you will be like me, having to disband a newly created team!!!

Summarising my three days of writing on this subject...be a human being, recognize that the teams you are leading are also human beings and need to be respected. Communicate honestly and clearly. Set clear expectations but understand the organization well and time your moves carefully.

I hope this is helpful...I can see that the number of visits to this blog has increased but the number of comments has started coming down...not sure if this topic is boring or I am getting boring with this topic...guys, please send in your comments...it will help me refine my thoughts.