Set Expectations…
Recently, I was lucky enough to help with a holiday party at my daughter’s preschool.
The class consists of 20 three and four-year-old children. For most of them, this is their first formal education class. It is amazing to see how the teachers transformed their behaviors in just seven months. On the first day of school, they did not know how to form a line or sit in a circle. Now they recognize their name in the circle and form a line to wash their hands before snack. They all say please. They all say thank you. They celebrate each child’s birthday as if it were their own.
I started thinking about her daily environment compared to the workplace. They work nonstop for two and a half hours and have fun.
As managers, how do we get two and half hours of productive work while our employees still have fun? In preschool, they set expectations. They teach behaviors to help meet those expectations and hold the students responsible for meeting them. The result…they are developing 20 great employees.
As managers, it is our job to set those same expectations, teach behaviors that help our employees win and hold them accountable when they don’t.
Also, say please, thank you and happy birthday!