This is the last part of the training session on Setting Employee Expectations. In this fianl part of the session, the facilitator will review the session, the participants will reflect on what they have learned and then the session will be brought to a close.

You can access the other parts of the session below.

• Open and introduction (see it here)
• What are employee expectations (see it here
• How to set employee expectations (see it here)
• When expectations are now SMART (see it here)
• Communicating employee expectations (see it here)

REVIEW, REFLECT AND CLOSE

Again, thank them for all their participation and engagement during the session, and let them know that you want to review what has been covered during the session.

Display the slide titled – REVIEW.

SLIDE – REVIEW

Click on the slide to display some information and tell them that:

• We started the session by discussing what expectations are.

Click on the slide again for more information.

• Then we answered the question – why are employee expectations important?

Click on the slide for a third time and say:

• After that, we then explored how to set employee expectations.
• Here we discussed some considerations for setting employee expectations and also looked at how to use the SMART framework to set expectations that are linked to measurement criteria and are more effective in managing performance.

Click on the slide to display some more information:

• We also agreed that all expectations can’t be quantitative. Some of our expectations will be qualitative.
• So, we explored what qualitative expectations look like and practiced briefly writing them.

Click on the slide for a final time and say:

• Finally, we looked at some things to consider in order to effectively communicate employee expectations.
• Before we end the session, there is one more thing you are going to do.
• You are going to reflect on what we’ve discussed during this session and identify some actions you are going to take as a result of what you’ve learned.

Direct them to the section of their workbooks titled – REFLECT – NOTE – ACT.

WORKBOOK CONTENT – REFLECT – NOTE – ACT.

Give them 5-minutes to do the activity there.

When the time is up, stop them and get their attention. Ask each participant to share one of their reflections with the group. Listen to what they share without asking questions or commenting. Just let them all share.

When they finish sharing thank them all for sharing their reflections. Also, thank them for their engagement throughout the session. Tell them that:

• What is important now is for them to put what they have learnt today into action. Learning is not just about receiving information or knowledge. It is about using that information to do something. In this case, set clear expectations for their team members.

After that, thank them again and end the session.

The training session I am writing this week has been on Setting Employee Expectations. In this part of the sessions, the focus will be on how to communicate employee expectations. Below are links to previous parts of the session.

• Open and introduction (see it here)
• What are employee expectations (see it here
• How to set employee expectations (see it here)
• When expectations are now SMART (see it here)

COMMUNICATING EMPLOYEE EXPECTATIONS

Display the slide titled – WHAT CAN ENNIE DO?

SLIDE – WHAT CAN ENNIE DO?

Let them read the information on the slide. Then ask them that:

• What could Ennie have done differently to communicate the expectations more clearly so there was not any disagreement or misunderstanding.

Put them in pairs to discuss and answer the question.

Write the question on flipchart for them to see.

Give them 5-minutes to discuss and answer the question and write down what they think Ennie can do differently to communicate expectations.

There is space for notes in their workbooks (show them if necessary) to write their answers down.

When the time is up, stop them and get everyone’s attention. Then go round each pair and take one answer from them.

Tell them not to repeat an answer that a pair had previously given, all answers they give should be unique.

As they tell you the answers write up on flipchart.

Keep going round the pairs taking their answers until they run out of answers. Next, review their answers by reading out what you wrote on flipchart.

Then thank them for doing the activity and let them know you also have some information to contribute on how to communicate expectations effectively.

Let them know that you are going to put them back into the pairs they just finished working in to read the information and discuss what they think about the information and how they would use it to communicate expectations.

Also, tell them that they are to identify any of the information they read that is similar to the answers they all presented earlier.

The information they are going to use for the activity is in the part of their workbooks titled – THINK ABOUT THESE FOR COMMUNICATING EXPECTATIONS.

WORKBOOK CONTENT – THINK ABOUT THESE FOR COMMUNICATING EXPECTATIONS

Put them back into pairs and give them 7-minutes for the activity.

After 7-minutes, stop them and debrief the activity exactly the same way you debriefed the previous one. Go round every pair and listen to their answers until they run out of answers.

Remember to only listen to one answer at a time and keep going round till they’ve had the opportunity to present all their answers.

After that, thank them for doing the activity and ask if they have any questions or comments.

Listen to any they have and respond appropriately.

Now move on to review the session, get the participants to reflect on what they learned, and then close.

The next post will be the end of the session. The facilitator will review the session and the participants will reflect on what they learned during the session.

In this part of the training session on, Setting Employee Expectations, participants will explore expectations that don’t meet the SMART criteria or what we call qualitative expectations. Below are links to previous parts of the session.

• Open and introduction (see it here)
• What are employee expectations (see it here
• How to set employee expectations (see it here)

WHEN EXPECTATIONS ARE NOT SMART

Ask them this question:

‘Should all expectations be SMART?’

Listen to their answers which should be ‘NO’.

Ask them another question which is – Can you give an example of an employee expectation that is not SMART.

Listen to their examples and write them on flipchart paper for everyone to see.

Thank them for the examples and say that:

• Examples of non-SMART expectations include professional requirements like punctuality, working according to company values such as integrity, respect, and inclusivity, and team expectations like coming early to meetings and showing mutual respect to one another.
• The fact that such expectations are not SMART does not make them less important. Often these qualitative expectations are responsible for creating the type of conducive work environment that allows us to work towards achieving SMART expectations.
• Let’s do a quick reflective activity on qualitative expectations. I call them qualitative because SMART expectations are more quantitative since they tend to have clear measures even if that measure is just based on a time deadline.
• Please can you think about your team and yourself? What qualitative expectations are necessary for your team members.
• This is an individual activity that you will find in the part of your workbook titled – WHEN EXPECTATIONS ARE NOT SMART.

WORKBOOK CONTENT – WHEN EXPECTATIONS ARE NOT SMART

Give each participant 5-minutes to do the activity. When the time is up, stop them and then ask everyone to share one of their qualitative expectations with you. You don’t need to write them down on flipchart. Just listen to what everyone says.

After listening to their answers, display the slide titled – QUALITATIVE EXPECTATIONS.

SLIDE – QUALITATIVE EXPECTATIONS

After displaying the slide, tell them that:

• Just like the qualitative expectations you shared with me earlier, these are two examples of qualitative expectations.
• While they don’t have specific measures like SMART expectations, they are equally important.
• Also, you can tell when they are happening and not happening.
• As managers, you should set these types of expectations.
• In most cases, they may apply to the whole team or even the whole organisation.
• Therefore, you should be clear about them and discuss them with your team members in both team and 1:1 meetings.

Ask if they have any questions or comments about qualitative expectations. Deal with any questions or comments they have appropriately.

After that, say:

• So far, we’ve discussed what employee expectations are.
• We’ve explored how to set SMART or quantitative employee expectations.
• We’ve also looked at qualitative expectations.
• What we want to look at next is how to communicate employee expectations once you set them.

Move on to discuss how to communicate employee expectations with them.

The next post will focus on how to communicate employee expectations effectively.

INTRODUCE THE SESSION

Introduce the session by sharing the learning objectives with them. Display the slide titled – LEARNING OBJECTIVES.

After displaying the slide, tell them that:

• Our aim in this session is to learn how to set clear employee expectations.
• For managers, being able to set clear employee expectations is very important.
• When team members are clear about what is expected of them, they are likely to be more engaged and focused.
• This is because they know what to concentrate on and where to spend their time.
• During this session we will explore what employee expectations are, learn how to set and communicate them to our team members.

Ask if they have any questions and/or comments about the information you just share with them.

If they have any questions and/or comments, then respond to them appropriately.

After that, move on to explore what employee expectations are.

In the next post, the participants will explore what employee expectations are.

ABOUT THE SESSION

This is a session that I am writing titled – Setting Clear Employee Expectations. The goal of the session is to train managers and team leaders to be able to set clear expectations for their team members. I will post the whole session here over the next couple of days. Below is the first part which is an introduction to the session.

INTRODUCTION

Clear expectations clarify what is expected of employees in their roles. Employees who know what is expected of them are likely to be more engaged and focused because they know what to concentrate on at work and where to spend their time. This can increase their productivity and sense of satisfaction. It is very important for managers to be able to set clear expectations for their team members. In this session, participants (managers) will explore what expectations are, and how to set and communicate them effectively.

DELIVERY MODE

• Face-to-face

DURATION (ESTIMATED)

• 2.5 hours

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

After going through this session, participants will be able to:

• describe what employee expectations are,
• set clear employee expectations, and
• demonstrate how to communicate employee expectations.

WORKBOOK

• Yes

PREPARATION

• Send participants the workbook at least three days before the session
• Read through all the session resources (facilitation guide, workbook and presentation) to see how they all work together to deliver the session.

PREREQUISITES

• None

The next post will open and introduce the training session to the participants.