Why Team Members Need Clear Goals and Job Descriptions
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View Membership BenefitsBeverly Flaxington is a practice management consultant. She answers questions from advisors facing human resource issues. To submit yours, email us here.
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Dear Bev,
I was recently promoted into a new role at my firm. It has taken me about seven years to get the recognition I believe I deserve and now I am managing a team of four people. I’m excited and looking forward to being successful.
The problem is my boss – I keep asking for a job description, or at minimum a set of outcomes that I am being measured against. He answers with statements like, “Your success is the success of the team” or “I am looking to you to energize and motivate everyone.” This sounds fine, but what does it mean?
Every time I push him for more definition, he tells me, “You’ll do just fine, stop worrying about it.” I am not worried about it; I am confident in my abilities and I have great ideas about what this team needs. But ultimately my boss will do my performance review. If I am not doing what he wants then it is all for naught, right? Any ideas on how to get more clarity from him?
Y.B.
Dear Y.B.,
“Clarity” – that is a word I find myself using several times throughout the day! People mistakenly think that just because we all speak English that we know what each other is saying. Nothing could be further from the truth.
I was just on the phone with a coaching client of mine. We were having a similar discussion to what you’ve written about. Her boss told her that success is, “strong integration into the team.” What does “integration” mean? How is this defined? Her boss is a great guy and one of my favorite people, so I am not dissing him. But he is saying something that is very clear to him but when she and I talked about the definition of “integration,” we couldn’t come up with a clear viewpoint to know exactly what steps to take.
I had a similar conversation yesterday with another favorite client of mine. We were talking about accountability and the importance of it. When you want to hold someone accountable, however, you need to have a clear and measurable definition of how to view it. So if someone says, “I want to be more accessible to the team” what does this mean? Accessible how? When? In what way? What will be different from how accessible you are right now? We use words and when we do, we know in our own minds how we define it and what exactly we are trying to get to, but others can’t see into our minds.
Ask him to define success – quantifiable and qualitative measurements. Ask him, “When I get to the end of the year, what exactly will I have done or be doing that you would deem successful? What will you be looking for? How will you review my work?” Often times when you ask someone to define success, they are able to paint a clearer picture than when you ask for job descriptions or outcomes, or goals.
When your boss gives you vague answers, you can tell him, “I know you are probably very clear, but when you say ‘the success of the team’ for example, how are you thinking about this? What measurement will you use?”
Many times when people are vague it is because they are vague themselves. They don’t actually have a clear definition, so they say something hoping the other person will just do what’s necessary and take the pressure off! In cases where knowing what they mean, specifically, is critical to your success, you can’t take the vagueness as your answer. You have to push to ensure you are also clear on what you need to do to be successful.
Frame this in a positive manner for your boss, “My goal is to be successful for you and to exceed your expectations in this role and I’m confident I can do that. However, I really need to have a specific picture of what I need to do, and how I need to do it so the more you can help me know the measurements, the better it will be for me and for you.”
If he is vague, be prepared to work through this with him and come up with a common definition of “success” that you both can agree upon.
Dear Bev,
We are about to embark on another round of messaging for our firm. We completed our third acquisition in four years. We’re finding as we add people, the way we do business continues to morph and change. I want to be a team player and believe all changes are for the better. But it is a bit disturbing that every new team who joins us has a different way of doing something. We seem content to adopt their new way, instead of insisting they conform to the way we do business.
Are changes such as acquisitions always good or can they actually send the wrong message to clients? For example, one big change is that a new team we acquired does everything virtually. They Skype portfolio reviews instead of meeting with clients. They claim this is to be sensitive to how busy their clients are. But I think it is merely a cost-cutting measure. So now we are trying to work “virtual support” into our messaging, which used to be more about hands-on and high-touch. Isn’t a change like this actually confusing to the client? I’m all for improvements, but want them to be thought out and the ramifications considered.
A.L.
Dear A.L.,
You want to be a team player and you think this means believing that all changes are for the better. But you outline a very specific change that is questionable as to whether it is better or not. It sounds to me like you are trying to accept the changes and perhaps not rock the boat, but you are observing with skepticism and you are concerned whether the right decisions are being made. I don’t know your position in the firm, but your observations are worth raising.
Have you been able to point out the changes from the client’s viewpoint? Are you having conversations about the pros and cons of each of these changes? Is the team discussing how to integrate the changes in a stepped fashion to avoid the impression that you are changing things often?
If you are not in a leadership position, you have to tread carefully with how you raise these questions. Adopt an air of curiosity – “I’m just curious if we have considered impact on the clients with what we’re doing?” could be your opening line. If you are in a leadership role, take a step back and consider whether these changes are (a) necessary and (b) good for your clients. Change can be good, but too much change can send a message to clients that you are in upheaval and I imagine you want to stay away from that impression as much as possible!
Beverly Flaxington co-founded The Collaborative, a consulting firm devoted to business building for the financial services industry in 1995. The firm also founded and manages the Advisors Sales Academy. She is currently an adjunct professor at Suffolk University teaching undergraduate students Entrepreneurship. Beverly is a Certified Professional Behavioral Analyst (CPBA) and Certified Professional Values Analyst (CPVA).
She has spent over 25 years in the investment industry and has been featured in Selling Power Magazine and quoted in hundreds of media outlets, including The Wall Street Journal, MSNBC.com, Investment News and Solutions Magazine for the FPA. She speaks frequently at investment industry conferences and is a speaker for the CFA Institute.
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