If you’ve ever played a game where no one explained the rules, you’ll know how quickly confusion turns into frustration. The same is true in business. Employees can’t deliver what leaders want if the expectations are murky. “Do your best” sounds inspiring, but it’s vague. “Submit the client proposal by Thursday at noon, using the updated template,” is a whole different story.
Here’s a simple example. A manager asks their assistant to “book a table for lunch with a potential investor.” They mean at a quiet bistro near the office. The assistant assumes they want to impress, so books the hottest new spot in town, complete with loud music and a 45-minute wait. Unsurprisingly the deal doesn’t exactly get off to a smooth start. Moral of the story? Precision saves both embarrassment and opportunity and clarity always beats assumptions.
Think of expectations like setting a GPS. If you tell someone, “Head north,” they might end up in Darwin. If you plug in the exact address, they’ll get to your office on time. Ambiguity is the enemy of accountability. When people don’t know exactly what’s expected, they default to their own interpretation, and that rarely matches yours.
How bad can a mere miscommunication really be though? Well, Boeing is a prime example of how it can cost billions and worse, human lives. Boeing was the global leader in commercial aircraft for decades. But in the mid-2010s, Airbus unveiled the fuel-efficient A320neo, winning massive orders. Boeing rushed to respond with an upgraded version of its 737: the 737 MAX. The goal was to get the plane to market quickly. What they failed to do was communicate the change to their pilots. Boeing engineers added a software system called MCAS (Manoeuvring Characteristics Augmentation System) and as they considered it a minor adjustment, they didn’t want to burden the airline or pilots with new training sessions. Some were told it was a simple change; some were not even told it existed. Each team thought it was handling the communication responsibly, but critical details fell through the cracks.
In 2018 and 2019, two 737 MAX planes (Lion Air Flight 610 and Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302) crashed, killing 346 people. Investigations revealed that pilots were fighting a system they didn’t fully understand, with little training or documentation to guide them. It devasted thousands of families, ruined Boeing’s stellar reputation and cost them billions. This wasn’t a technical flaw; it was a communication failure at scale. The tragedy shows that miscommunication isn’t always about someone saying the wrong thing. Often it is simply about what is not said, or what it is assumed that everyone already knows.
Communicating expectations is not about micromanaging. It’s about drawing the map, so your team knows the destination and the boundaries of the road. Once they’re clear on that, you can step aside and let them drive.
Practical Advice: How to Communicate Expectations Clearly
- Be specific, not general. Swap “handle it” with “send the draft by Friday 4 p.m. in PDF format.”
- Explain the why. People engage more when they know the purpose behind the task.
- Check for understanding. Ask the employee to restate the task in their own words.
- Set boundaries. Define what’s in scope—and just as importantly, what isn’t.
- Provide examples of what you want, if you have them.
- Follow up, don’t hover. Clear expectations mean you can give space and still hold accountability.
Further Reading:
If you want to go deeper, try the book Radical Candor by Kim Scott. It’s a fantastic book on how to balance clarity with care, giving feedback and setting expectations in a way that empowers rather than alienates your team.
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