I recently facilitated a session about supervising college students. One of the feedback comments said that they wished I would have told more stories about the problems I had with student employees and how I resolved them. The truth is, I don’t have that many stories to share — about problems with students or professional employees — largely due to how I was clear about expectations right from the start.
I am reminded of a story that Michelle Obama shared about how her mother gave her an alarm clock when she started kindergarten. Mrs. Robinson taught her daughter how to use it; she worked with her to consider all that had to be done in the morning so Michelle knew what time to set it, and then she empowered her to use it. No nagging, no hounding, no problem stories to share.
I have said before that I think supervisors cause as many problems as employees do because they don’t have ongoing conversations about responsibilities or performance. But if you set people up for success by giving them the clarity and tools they need, my experience has been that most will rise to achieve. Start from that premise.
