The other week I was talking to a production supervisor about one of the business' recent recruits. The supervisor was grumbling about a mismatch in expectations. The new recruit had been with the business for about three months and was only running one machine. I asked what they should have been doing and the supervisor said 'at least two at once'. From a little bit of digging it became clear that this expectation was not mentioned, or documented, anywhere. It's what everyone else did in the business, it was the culture, but it wasn't obvious to this member of staff. Years ago I completed a project for a company that used the term ' reasonable expectations '. I liked this term as it sounds considered and based on facts. They used it to define the pace they expected their staff to work at. I think it is something that most of us could use. Being clear about what good looks like is an essential part of good management. Defining reasonable expectations for you...