Everyone has likely experienced disappointment in their lives at one time or another. As a child, a parent might have caused disappointment by not taking an outing to the park after they promised they would. A significant other might have caused disappointment by breaking a promise. A friend might have caused disappointment by not showing up to a special event. No one likes how it feels to be disappointed and no leader would want to cause a team member or client to feel disappointment either.
Disappointment occurs when reality does not meet expectations. Disappointment in the professional setting is usually caused by performance that is lower than expected, breaches of contract, missed deadlines, or a lack of satisfaction overall. It can lead to low team morale, employee attrition, loss of revenue, and loss of clients. How can a leader minimize or even eliminate disappointment among their team and their clients? Here are a few strategies for avoiding disappointment:

1. Set goals collaboratively. Whether working with a team member or client, collaborate to establish goals to ensure that they are reasonable and are directly related to expected outcomes.  When goals are agreed upon, meeting those stated goals will ensure satisfaction.
2. Communicate clearly. Disappointment is almost guaranteed when expectations are unstated. It is difficult to meet expectations that no one knows exist! Communicate clearly and effectively with team members and clients to learn about their expectations.
3. Manage expectations. If a team member or client’s expectations are unreasonable, be upfront about it. Impossible compensation expectations, timelines, or work products lead directly to disappointment. Be clear about what is possible and what is not in the beginning.
4. Under promise and over deliver. It is much better to provide more than what was expected than to have to apologize for not being able to deliver what was promised. Be mindful not to be overly optimistic when establishing timelines, financial estimates, and more. It is better to deliver early or offer cash back or a bonus later than to admit that overly ambitious promises cannot be kept.
5. Put it in writing. Protect the interests of all by documenting expectations or agreements in writing. This can be in the form of informal notes for an internal meeting or formal documentation with a client, such as a contract or statement of work. These documents can serve as a reference to manage expectations and to verify that the outcome meets the expectations and goals that were originally agreed upon.
6. Keep your word. Self-discipline has been described as keeping your word after the mood in which the commitment was made has passed. Excitement and motivation may wane, but it is important to maintain zeal and urgency to deliver on what was promised. Team members and clients value a leader that does what they say they will do, especially without constant reminders or prodding.

To be clear, disappointment happens, even with the best strategies and intentions. However, leaders have significant control over managing disappointment with their team members and clients. Avoiding disappointment improves work culture, creates positive internal and external reputations for the leader and the team, and leads to greater employee satisfaction and company revenue.
If you are dealing with disappointment as a leader, check out this blog post here.

As busy leaders, it can easily become habit to multitask.  While I am a fan of multitasking in my private office time, I do not recommend this type of work during meetings and interactions with other people.  In meetings (regardless of who called the meeting), being distracted shows others that you do not believe them or their agenda to be important enough to prioritize over your phone, walkie talkie, laptop, or planning notes.

Even if you have trained yourself to put your phone down during meetings, you may still find that your mind wanders during meetings or conversations with team members.  You may find yourself daydreaming, thinking about the next meeting, worrying about a task or project that is urgent and due, or remembering something that you forgot to take care of before attending the meeting.  The next thing you are aware of is someone calling  your name or even the adjourning of the meeting!  When you attend meetings in that way, you are simply a present body--you did not gain anything from the meeting, nor did you contribute or engage fully.  Simply put, it was a waste of time.

To keep this from happening, I encourage you to practice mindfulness.  Mindfulness is the intentional action of focusing on the activity or experience at hand, becoming aware of when you are distracted, and taking steps to regain focus.  I often refer to this when addressing my team as being "present in the moment".  Employees and team members will appreciate your focused attention on them and the meetings you engage in.  Your focused attention is not only a sign of respect, but it also allows you to be thoroughly engaged and ready to lend your ideas and expertise to the discussed topic.

Mindfulness is a great practice to exercise at work and even in home life.  If you need help prioritizing and planning your work load so that you can be mindful during interactions with others, let me help! Contact me for a free consultation.

(Reference Mindfulnet.org)