Setting (great?) expectations

I am a firm believer in knowing up-front what is expected of me in a job. I just think it makes everyone much happier; I know what you expect of me, and you know that I know what you expect of me, and, if for any reason those two things don’t match, we get it hashed out up front instead of waiting for me to tell you I think I’m done and yet what I’ve delivered is nothing like what you wanted.

It is for this very reason that I waited about 4-5 months before accepting the COO position at my (now-previous) company. I wanted it to be very clear with the CEO as to what he thought he was creating the position for and what I felt my areas of responsibility were. It actually was working out great until a recent strategy change that eliminated the need for my role.

So how do you go about setting those expectations? Well, it likely depends on what it is you will be doing. Some jobs are likely clearer than others, especially if there is a written-up job description that already exists. This is a great place to start. I am also a firm believer in documenting these expectations (like in a job description) so we all can confirm that yes, we are indeed on the same page. But what do you do when the role you’re being asked to do is a bit more ambiguous (for example, the COO role at my company)? The previous COO performed duties very different to what I felt my role should be. Not to say that one is right and one is wrong, but I felt my strengths and skillset were better suited for different responsibilities. So, like my mom has so well-trained me to do, I went looking for a book. Turns out, there really aren’t many books at all written about the COO. There are TONS about being and acting and doing things like a CEO, but COO? Not so much. Well, luckily a couple of guys figured this out before I did and published a book called “Riding Shotgun: The Role of a COO”. This book talked through why someone may want to hire a COO and then gave multiple examples of companies that had COOs and whether they were needed, etc. The answer isn’t always “yes, you need one” or “no, you don’t”. It really depends a lot on the reasons behind hiring one. So, I set off to figure out why it was that our CEO wanted a COO and what I felt my role could and should be.

Some key things I learned (some of which seem obvious, and they may be, but it was good to see someone else reiterate that it was important):

1) You want a very clear understanding of where the CEO’s role is and where the COO’s role is. There may be some overlap, but you really want to have this well-defined. Plus then you each know what decisions you are responsible for making. Maybe one is completely outwardly facing and the other completely internally facing, but either way, define it and write it down!

2) It is incredibly important to have trust between the CEO and COO

3) Communciation between the CEO and COO is of utmost importance. Even bcc-ing each other on key emails is a great way to just inform the other of things happening within the company.

4) There are many reasons why a COO position may be created; perhaps another layer of management needed before the CEO, perhaps because there’s too much on the CEO’s plate, perhaps because the CEO is good at some things but needs someone to complement him in others. But whatever the reason, it’s good to understand why because that helps to create the “what” part of the expectation.

5) If the COO role didn’t exist previously and now a number of direct reports will be reporting to the COO instead of the CEO, they may be tempted to still go straight to the CEO. The CEO needs to push those folks back to the COO to “walk the walk” as it were. This again can be backed up with well-documented and published roles that go to the management team.

6) Defining up front is the expectation is that the COO role will lead to the CEO role or not, and, if so, when (roughly) that might happen.

So, this is a small example of how setting expectations ahead of time are important (and it may seem to not apply for other positions, but I think is equally as important). So, before I accept any role now (even if I’m just taking on a new project), I work to set those clear expectation before I invest too much time and energy into it. I make sure of what I’m delivering, when I’m delivering it, and then work to get a quick outline of the format I’m delivering it in to ensure that all of these align with my boss’ expectation. This helps avoid issues later on and tends to keep things on-track. It’s not to say that things couldn’t change later, but then both parties are making a conscious decision about what is changing and what might need to fall to a lower priority.

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