Let’s continue to look at your expectations of others. What about your expectations for your vendors and clients?

Have you made your expectations for your vendors crystal clear from the first contact onwards?

This means did you have the clear and concise specifications in written from for them. Did the specifications include form, fit and function of the item? Did the specifications include your delivery and schedule expectations, did it include the penalties and bonus criteria if any?

When you came to agreement, was the agreement written, did it include all of the above put the cost and price breaks? Did the agreement include the ramifications for them of nonperformance by them.

Do you have an approved vendor list? Do your vendors clearly and concisely know what they need to do to be approved and do they know what the advantages of being on the approved vendor means to them?

This next on is a bit counter-intuitive – have you made your expectations crystal clear for your clients? But lets think about this, unless your expectations are clearly stated, your clients will act any way they want – is that what you want or do desire them to have more specific (and beneficial to you) behaviors?

Do you have clearly stated Terms and Conditions for your clients. In addition to the seemingly unreadable legal T&Cs, do have some thing that is readable and understandable – I know the lawyers will protest this, but your clients will applaud it. Please note I never said to do your own or not to have an attorney review them, but for Pete’s sakes have something understandable.

What about your clients comportment either in your establishment, on the phone, email or snail mail? Do you have clear code of conduct for your clients and ramifications for failure to adhere to the prescribed conduct?

If you haven’t made all these expectations clearly known, how will your clients know what is expected of them and perform to those expectations?

"Another meeting! If I didn’t ‘waste’ so much time in meetings, I might get some ‘real work’ done." If you feel this way, your meetings may benefit from some fine-tuning. Take seven steps today to make your meetings more productive.

Have an objective and an agenda.
Without an objective or agenda, time spent in a meeting can lead to less than stellar results. Set clear objec¬tives, like project updates, creation of incentives to drive sales in a sector, or brainstorming cost-cutting measures. Be clear about the parameters of the discussion, and don’t overload the agenda. Provide attendees with the objective and agenda prior to the meeting.

Limit the number of participants.
Sometimes less is more. Too many participants can slow the meeting process down. Office staff may be able to handle some of the objectives before the meeting via e-mail or memo, which can reduce the number of participants to key representatives. Determine who needs to be present and create a plan to keep all those affected by the decision-making process "in the loop."

Be generous with time, but not too generous.
Thirty minutes may be enough time to devote to a project update, but not enough if you are brainstorming on acquiring new technology for the office. Allow enough time for full con¬sideration of the objective under dis¬cussion. Remember, meetings that last more than two hours can be draining. It may be best to schedule several meetings to discuss more complex issues, or, if you must meet for two or more hours, schedule one or two short breaks to allow people to move, check for important messages, and visit the restroom. When you break, set a firm time to resume and don’t allow discussion to continue into the break. Be sure to resume sharply on time, even if not all are back.

Meet, don’t eat!
Have plenty of water available, but unless you are planning a social event, it is best to keep food out of the con¬ference room. The focus should be on collaborative effort to create effective business solutions, not on passing the roast beef. If a meeting falls close to breakfast, lunch, or dinner, take a break to eat, or eat before or after the meeting. This solution offers time to socialize in a work setting and time to get down to the business of working.

Someone must lead so that all may succeed.
A meeting with no facilitator can ren¬der meetings ineffective and ineffi¬cient. A facilitator encourages infor¬mative, yet succinct, input from everyone and allows time for everyone to offer their perspectives and view¬points. Some of the best ideas may come from staffers who are often over¬looked in light of more gregarious employees. The better and varied the dialogue and input, the better the decision-making process.

Be clear about follow-up.
Dedicate time to set a follow-up meet¬ing date and create a plan of action. Be sure that each of you knows what action is expected of you and when. It’s best to publish pertinent notes immediately after the meeting, includ¬ing action items, decisions, and con¬cerns. Any information that needs to be gathered should be sent to all meeting attendees well in advance of the next meeting for review.

Take advantage of available resources.
If you are having difficulty getting more from your meetings, there are many books available on the market that highlight meeting strategies. You might also consult with a Meeting Facilitator or a Management profes¬sional with expertise in this area. Better planning, time management, organization, and facilitation can go far in making meetings more productive.

Now let’s look at your expectations of others.

What about your expectations for your employees?  Have you made your expectations for your employees crystal clear from the start of their employment? That means did you have a clear job description and expectation agreement for them to read.

Did you have a well written employee manual that laid out in concise language your expectations for their manners, behavior, company dress code, how to call in sick, vacation policy and so on?

Did you have them read the employee manual, job description and expectation agreement?  Did you test the employee on them, did you have them sign the documents.

Not only do these documents make your expectations clear, but they will preclude many discussions, disagreements, confrontations in the future. Employees will know from the get-go exactly what they are responsible for, where their work station is, who they report to, how grievances are resolved and so on.

Think of the freedom and ease with which you will be able to manage your staff when your expectations are clearly known to them from the very first second of their employment, better yet, this process would start before they become employees.

Do you give them constructive feedback at least quarterly?  Better yet it would be monthly and whenever their behavior or conduct deems some corrective action or praise should be given.  Corrective action and praise should be given as close to the event (good or bad) as possible to ensure that the facts are fresh in everyone’s mind.

Above all you must walk your talk.  If you have made your expectations of your employees crystal clear, shouldn’t they apply to you also.  If you take the position “do as I say, not as I do”, this will severely undermine you moral authority and make your efforts worthless.

Talk the talk and back it up with walking the walk – at all times.