**If you don’t make your expectations clear, it’s your fault when people don’t meet them.**

Harsh, right? Well, it’s true!

As Camp Directors, one of the biggest disservices that we can do to our staff is to be unclear about our expectations of them. From the application to the exit interview, we need to be clear not only about our expectations but also about what they can expect from the job.

This isn’t to say that you need to lay out every single expectation for every single program at camp. That would be obnoxious and would stifle creativity. The expectations that you should give to staff are the higher-level ones like the quality of work you expect, the work culture, timeliness, communication and other important policies.

Being clear about your expectations is the best way for staff to know instantly where they stand in terms of their performance. If your expectations are clear enough, your staff evaluations become less focused on telling them where they did or didn’t meet expectations, but why they did or didn’t meet them.

Lastly. We need to remember that we are hiring kids and youth to work with us. This may be their first time experiencing the work-force. Let’s all do our best to treat them with respect and grace. You can set and communicate your high expectations without being a jerk.

To help you firmly, yet caringly communicate expectations this summer, Travis, Joe and Dan are joined by Camp Code Co-Host, Ruby Compton! Ruby’s many years in and around the camp industry have given her a unique perspective on how to, and how not to be a great expectation setter.

Tune in to this episode to hear more about:

Setting the standard of clear expectations throughout the hiring process
How to clearly communicate your expectations to staff
Why we, as an industry can be better expectation setters
How to support staff when they are not meeting expectations

What is something that you do to clearly communicate your expectations? Tell us about it in the comments!

Tool of the Week – Make Yourself a Better Camp Director

Travis: Brené Brown on the Tim Ferriss podcast: Striving versus Self-Acceptance, Saving Marriages, and More

Joe: Open Source Ecology - Free Plans for creating things for a comfortable society - machines, printers, etc. - Summer Program 2020 - https://www.opensourceecology.org/summer-x-2020/ BONUS - KEEN Pro Program: https://www.keenfootwear.com/en-ca/pro, US link: keenfootwear.com/pro

Ruby: PeakVisor app

Dan: The Coffee Bean - Jon Gordon