Role Clarity

Often, the responsibility for role clarity rests with the leadership team of the work unit to ensure the employees within it are clear about their roles. However, employees can gain clarity on how they can meet, or even exceed, their manager’s expectations by following these simple steps:

Clarify tasks: Understand the task at hand
Clarify success: Ask how success will be measured
Who’s involved: Map relationships that will help get the job done
Who can help?: Know how your manager will support you
Follow up: Put it in writing

The reality is, we can’t achieve success or recognition if what we’re being asked to do or what success looks like seems unclear or ever-changing.

Example of Role Clarity in Action

Consider the example of a unit of firefighters at a fire hall. When the bell rings for the firefighters to respond to an emergency, they don’t stop to figure out who is driving the truck. Rather, they have discussed who is responsible for each task in advance, so when they are called upon, there are no delays or confusion in responding. Each member of the unit knows exactly what they are supposed to do, saving precious time in the process.

While it is a simplistic example, the theory applies in the case of knowledge workers as well. When roles have been discussed and established in advance, efficiencies are gained, as there is less confusion as the work progresses. This also helps to enable discussions between colleagues through a work project.

An important consideration to ensuring role clarity is present throughout a project or work task is establishing an environment where employees feel safe in asking for clarification.