How often do you clearly define the objective for a task, agreement, or business?
This evening my 4 years came to me with a request –
Seddie: Mummy, Didi (his sister aka Buddie) wants to take this toy from me, can you keep it safe for me and away from her?
Me: oh yes! Please leave it by my bedside table and I will watch over it (I was already on the bed watching a favorite soap).
Seddie: Okay mum.
He leaves his toy on the bedside table and runs off. Some minutes later, he returns to the room and another conversation ensues.
Seddie: Mummy can you please put the toy under your pillow?
Me: Noo oh! I won’t oo. abasi mbok! If you can’t trust me to keep your toy safe here (pointing to the table), then I can’t help you.
In a bit to reassure him, I added, you know that Didi won’t touch the toy as it is under my care.
Seddie didn’t respond, he quietly retrieved his toy and left.
Leaving me wondering where the lack of confidence in my ability to keep a toy safe arose from.
Thinking back on this incident, I realized that Seddie’s objective and mine were at variance.
Seddie’s objective was to keep the toy hidden from Dara’s view, my understanding of his request fed my objective of ensuring that Dara did not take or touch the toy under my watch.
Our objectives weren’t aligned, so I could not meet nor satisfy his expectations.
So back to my opening question – how often do you define and align objectives to meet expectations when other parties are involved?
A clearly defined objective provides clarity, guidance, and direction. It also facilitates effective communication and ensures set goals or expectations are met.
Are you struggling with meeting expectations as I did with Seddie’? Attempt understanding the objective of the task/assignment, or even the expected outcome, and your case will not end like Seddie’s and I
Happy weekend people!
Image credit – https://unsplash.com/@robowunderkind
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