Setting expectations is easiest at the beginning of a new season or year and is hardest when changing an old habit.

Orientation, teaching, or training does not mean an expectation is set. It has merely been made known. Time will tell if it is a true expectation. Making an expectation known is the first step to setting it, but far from meeting it.

How do you really set the expectation in stone? How can you make your team accountable to your expectation? One way is to have them report to you as soon as they have accomplished the expectation. This allows you to have positive interaction with them when they have correctly finished the expectation. Also, it allows you to immediately make adjustments to an expectation that your team did not clearly understand.

Another method of accountability is setting a deadline. Keep the following three things in mind when setting a deadline.

•  A deadline works best when both you and your team agree upon it.
•  A deadline should be real— a missed deadline should have a consequence.
• Figure out where your team is on the spectrum from eternal optimist to hopeless pessimist—chances are that their deadline reflects where they are on the spectrum. Work to stretch them to a more balanced point.