Remember back to the last time you started a new job. You were probably anxious to begin with since you were meeting new people, finding your groove with a new culture and likely had a learning curve to get upto speed. You wanted to make a great impression and exceed your bosses expectations. Now, here is the million dollar question……were those expectations clearly communicated with you? We're not talking about a job description with your role and responsibilities that you studied before the interview. I mean what were the Key Result Areas (KRAs) in your role?
What did you need to be absolutely crushing to know if you were being successful in your role and meeting your bosses expectations?
What are Key Result Areas?
Key Result Areas (KRAs) state in writing (paper/pdf/stone/etc.) what succeeding in a role looks like. Again, this goes beyond the job description. This helps clarify and align expectations between the manager/leader and team members so both parties are on the same page with what success looks like. KRAs gives you super clear expectations so you’ll know how to use your time and energy on the things that matter most and will help your company thrive. Writing Key Result Areas
Use simple and straightforward language. You’re not trying to impress the team member with your extensive vocabulary, so don’t use words you wouldn’t normally use in everyday conversation - indubitably, right?!
Your KRAs should be concise and fit on one page. Less is more.
Even if the things you’re including appear obvious to you, they might not be obvious to the person doing the work and visa versa.
Writing these should not take more than 20 minutes, please don't overthink it.
Creating Buy-In You can have the greatest defined KRAs in the world and if you don't have buy-in from your team member, you will not see the results you're wanting. Here is a great way to get buy-in:
Create a first draft before meeting with your team member.
At your next meeting with the team member, give them a blank template of the KRA and ask them to fill out what they think the KRAs for their role looks like.
Regroup to compare your KRAs and remember, this is a conversation. The key to creating buy-in is allowing your team member to speak into it and then clarify expectations. You might have missed some that they called out, which is why you do this exercise.
Create a final draft where the team member and you sign it.
Include one or more of their KRAs into your 1:1 meeting cadence as an agenda item so you get regular updates and can provide necessary guidance.
Now What? You now have a better understanding of what KRAs are and how necessary they are for setting up your team members for success and to move your company forward. If you're wanting to incorporate this into your business and still unsure of what to do next - click here. I will send you my KRA template so you can jump right into it and not have to come up with your own material. Best of luck!!