The Disconnect Between What You Think and What Your Staff Really Thinks

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Here’s an interesting observation that I’ve encountered regularly from my years in the trenches as a Human Resources professional:

There is a disconnect between what the supervisor is thinking abut a particular workplace situation, and how their employees perceive the very same situation.

You Think:  “All of my employees know that I have an open door policy and that they can come and talk to me if they have any questions or issues”.

Your Employee Thinks:  “I don’t know if I should interrupt her with this question.  I’ll try to figure it out myself”.

You Think:  “I gave him that project last week; it should be finished by now!”

Your Employee Thinks:  He never gave me a deadline, and I’m so busy.  I’ll take care of it next week”.

You Think:  He’s late again!  It’s the second time this week”.

Your Employee Thinks:  I’m just a few minutes late.  It’s no big deal”.

You Think:  “It’s really irritating that staff spend so much time talking about what they did over the weekend”.

Your Employee Thinks:  Our supervisor doesn’t give us grief about taking breaks.  We’ve been working so hard”.

You Think: “I’ll follow up with him about where things stand with that project.

Your Employee Thinks: “Why is she breathing down my neck”!

The common denominator here is communication; or lack thereof.  Don’t assume that your employees know what you expect of them.  Being transparent is a management best practice that will eliminate the confusion, or misunderstandings that occur when people are left to draw their own conclusions.