Most performance problems are expectation problems. People rarely fail at a job they clearly understood.
10 min read · Level 3
Most performance problems are expectation problems — people rarely fail at a job they clearly understood. Competent people always work out something, and it will be shaped by their last company rather than your current priorities. The part that actually creates clarity is naming what is not a priority, and it is almost always the part left out.
Setting expectations means being explicit about what success looks like in a role: the outcomes, the standard, the timeframe and how it will be judged.
It happens at the start, not at review time.
Because most 'performance problems' turn out to be someone doing exactly what they thought was wanted. Nobody told them what good looked like, so they invented a definition — usually a reasonable one that differed from yours.
And because unclear expectations are unfair. It is difficult to succeed at a job nobody described, and being judged against an unstated standard is corrosive.
Unclear: 'You're running marketing. Get us more customers.'
Three months later the founder is frustrated: too much time on brand, not enough on outbound. The marketer is frustrated too: they built a foundation, as any marketer would.
Neither is wrong. Nobody said which.
Clear: 'You own marketing. In the next quarter, success is 40 qualified leads a month at a CAC under $300, from at most two channels. Brand work is not a priority this quarter — we can revisit in Q3. We will review the numbers every Monday.'
Now the marketer can succeed, and can push back before starting if they think it is the wrong goal — which is far more useful than discovering the disagreement in month three.
Note the last part: naming what is not a priority is what makes the rest unambiguous.
First-time founders often assume competent people will work out what is wanted. Competent people will work out something, and it will be shaped by their previous job rather than your current priorities.
The second mistake: only stating expectations when they have already been missed. That is a criticism, not an expectation.
The third: not saying what is not a priority. Without exclusions, everything looks equally important and people spread themselves across all of it.
'40 qualified leads a month at CAC under $300' rather than 'more customers'.
By when. A goal with no date cannot be missed or met.
This is the part that makes the rest clear, and it is almost always omitted.
What is looked at, how often. No surprises at the end.
'What does success look like to you in this quarter?' The gap between their answer and yours is the whole risk.
Two lines in a shared document. Memory diverges, especially about standards.
At the start of every role, every quarter, and every delegated project.
Do not over-specify how the work is done. Expectations are about outcomes and standards; the method is theirs, or you are back to task-assignment.
Three months later the founder is frustrated that too much time went into brand and not enough into outbound; the marketer is frustrated too, having built a foundation as any marketer would. Neither is wrong and nobody had said which. The disagreement was available in week one for the cost of one sentence.
State success with numbers and a date, then state what is explicitly not a priority this quarter. The exclusion is what makes the rest unambiguous.
The cheapest check available: ask what success looks like to them in this quarter, and listen for the gap. Founders skip it because it feels patronising, and then discover the divergence in month three when it has cost a quarter.
The gap between their answer and yours is the entire risk. Finding it takes thirty seconds in the first conversation.
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