Q1. I know what is expected of me at work.

**Summary**

-   Communicate expectations throughout the workgroup.

-   Encourage employees to develop individual goals, along with the
    goals of FSA.

-   Help employees to be knowledgeable about their career goals.

-   Meet with staff regularly.

-   Agree on staff issues worked on as a group to maintain consistency.

-   Provide support to new employees through effective teamwork.

-   Create an enjoyable work environment on a daily basis.

**Key Findings**

*\"Expect the best out of people. And when you expect the best, that\'s
when you\'re likely to get the best.\"*

Many consistencies emerge when managers discuss their efforts to make
sure that people know what is expected of them at work. As simple and
obvious as it sounds, communication is the key. In addition to the
communication of expectations throughout the workgroup, all managers
express the need for extensive individualized communication with each
team member.

Great managers at FSA meet with staff to communicate expectations,
whether in organized performance reviews or in more informal ways, such
as lunchtime chats or over a cup of coffee. Managers also meet
collectively to talk over staff issues and come to a consensus to
maintain consistency.

Gallup's research shows that great managers do not just define the job,
but define success on the job. They do this in part by setting goals for
their employees or having employees set their own goals. They also
provide guidance as to when employees should use their own judgment.
Concepts of team and team expectations have become increasingly
important. Expectations encompass not only individual performances, but,
also, how each performance fits into the mission of the team.

Beyond direct communication of expectations, members of best practice
teams assume personal responsibility for their own tasks. Given an
assignment, whether long or short term, they will identify the tasks
necessary for completion and take ownership of those tasks. They become
the experts. One manager put it this way: \"It\'s a priority to me to
communicate how I see the expectation from a work unit standpoint and a
division organizational standpoint. The challenge that we have is
everyone\'s got to take personal ownership of whether or not that aligns
with their own individual expectations and talents and what they bring
to the position.\"

What we discovered in analyzing the responses for this question is that
great FSA managers: 1) communicate with employees about how their work
is tied to performance measures, 2) keep employees informed of decisions
that impact their work, 3) provide support to new employees through
effective teamwork, and 4) create an enjoyable work environment on a
daily basis.

**Relevant Quotes From FSA Interviews**

If you choose good people and give them a particular assignment, they
will identify what needs to be done and they\'ll get it done. And
you\'ve got a room full of very competent people who can and do identify
what needs to be done and ultimately that\'s the most effective way for
an organization to work because you can\'t have management trying to
define from above the job and classically that\'s the way a hierarchical
bureaucracy works. But what you need is to have individuals who are
competent and motivated give them an assignment and they\'ll go to it
and far out perform any requirements.

We get into those sessions and the gloves come off and we sit and we
talk about who\'s doing what and why we\'re crossing over some other
territory and then we lay out the organization chart as to who has the
responsibilities and we\'ll sit and talk about it.

I think by checking in weekly or checking in quarterly with these
projects does help keep them focused because we, as somebody said
earlier, we do have our plate pretty full and it\'s really easy for
somebody to get wandering off into the woods and we have to pull them
back.

I know what I was hired for.

I think my boss is very organized and she communicates very, very, very
well as to how things should be. And it\'s impressive because even when
she\'s gone, her organization is still there. Out on maternity leave,
her organizational skill is there, we all knew exactly what\'s supposed
to happen on those times and a person is going to walk in and say okay,
bang, bang, bang, this is how it\'s supposed to be. So I think she\'s
very organized and she communicates very well.

I\'ve been here a while, I certainly know what is expected of me but
that also changes day in and day out and I think, you know, (Names) are
really great about letting us know what the priorities are, what\'s
expected without like robbing us. You know, they\'re, like (Name) said,
they\'re very accessible and that helps. I mean we\'re talking all the
time all day long so that\'s part of it. I think that accessibility
really makes this place a little bit unique.

Expectations here are high but they\'re reachable goals and that\'s kind
of like the professionalism that you see here that maybe you don\'t see
in some of the other areas where I\'ve worked or (inaudible words)
before and that feeling just wasn\'t there. But it\'s not a competitive
environment either, you know, it\'s not like we\'re out to get each
other or do better, you know, it\'s a teaming environment.

It\'s a priority to me to communicate how I see the expectation from a
work unit standpoint and a division organizational standpoint. The
challenge that we have is everyone\'s got to take personal ownership of
whether or not that aligns with their own individual expectations and
talents and what they bring to the position.

You set your own expectations too a lot. You get the overall
expectations coming from (inaudible words) supervisor but then you have
the internal expectations of accomplishing things (inaudible words) more
rigorous than what is set for you. I think it\'s just a matter of
personal, the way you do your job and the professionalism.

Expect the best out of people. And when you expect the best, that\'s
when you\'re likely to get the best. Or at least the best somebody can
give you.

I think they expect us to give them the resources and materials to do
their jobs, to set certain parameters for them in which they should
operate and can operate. Provide the leadership.

The staff probably expects that they be treated as individuals with
differing needs. Some people want me to get out of the way and let them
go, other people want me to hold their hand and stuff in between.

The key to \[understanding expectations\] is communication. Each year
prior to the start of the year but it hasn\'t worked out that well the
past couple of years but when we put in place our performance plans for
each year, I put down on paper all of our projects and, who from the
staff is assigned to what project and we try to rotate them, rotate the
assignments like every two or three years to give staff a chance to
learn something new, bring something new to a project, switch it up a
little bit (inaudible words) But basically try to put it down on paper,
talk with everybody at the beginning of the year and then at mid year
review time. We also have, or try to have weekly staff meetings where we
communicate what everybody\'s doing, what everybody\'s working on so we
all know what\'s going on. And then just talking either through e-mail
or in person about different assignments.

My philosophy is if the head is sick, every, the body is. You know, if
the head is okay and strong, you have strong leadership, the body should
be surviving, thriving and doing what it needs to do. So everything in
the body directly goes back to the brain and vice versa, it should be a
cyclic flow. So, you know, I mean if we\'re doing anything right, I
think it\'s an outflow of the leadership that we\'re receiving at the
time.

They wanted me to continue to show concern to them, with them, have an
open door policy, smile and speak, be conscientious, offer assistance
and resources when needed, be easy to talk with when discussing any
issue or concern, continue to be responsive to concerns, continue to
help resolve issues, continue to have occasional branch staff meetings
away from the work area, doing our lunches.

**Development Questions**

**Managers:**

How do you set expectations?

How do you balance the need for policies and procedures while
allowing/encouraging employees to do what they need to do to satisfy the
customer?

**Employees:**

I want you to think about what's expected of you at work. What are you
supposed to do every day when you show up?

How do you know what\'s expected?

What do you think about your expectations?

How do you know when you\'re successful at work?

Do you talk with your manager or your supervisor about your performance?

Development Guide Tips:

1). Define the right outcomes (is the customer the focus?), set goals
for employees/have them set their own goals

2). Don't just define the job, define SUCCESS on the job

3). Provide direction on when employees should use their own judgment