Managing Tip of the Month
February 1998

Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

The January Managing Tip discussed the benefits of using the concept of self-fulfilling prophecy to your advantage as a manager. The basic concept is that people perform in a way that measures up to what managers and others expect of them. Therefore, a manager who has little respect for subordinates and their abilities actually negatively impacts the outcome of the subordinates' performance.  Likewise, a manager who truly believes in and expects the best from subordinates is likely to foster better performance from subordinates.

This month's tip will take this concept one step further, and discuss behaviors of a manager who is able to effectively use the self-fulfilling prophecy.

1. Establish beliefs and clearly communicate expectations.
   
   In order to use beliefs and expectations in a helpful way, it is important that you are aware of what your beliefs are. Beliefs about employees, organizational structure, job duties and other things influence performance. In order to make sure that you are not unconsciously communicating something that you don't want to employees, it is necessary to examine beliefs and to decide if they are accurate and helpful. Expectations are a natural outgrowth of beliefs. Once you have established your beliefs, set concrete expectations, and communicate them to your subordinates.
   
2. Be persistent.
   
   Self-fulfilling prophecy is not magic, and it does not work overnight. It is only one part of good management, and it must be integrated with other aspects. However, it can truly make a difference if it is consistently and persistently used by managers.
   
3. Create a performance-focused climate!
   
   Performance, like anything else in life, will improve as more attention and energy are focused on it. Therefore, it is beneficial to minimize distractions from the job at hand, and to reward and reinforce based on performance-based objectives. 
   
4. Coordinate input and information.
   
   Take input and information from all relevant sources - employees, customers, consultants, and regulators. It is then your job to interpret and coordinate the input in a way that is useful. When you do this successfully, employees are able to focus on their jobs better, as they don't have to worry about the bigger picture.
   
5. Monitor outputs and trend results.
   
   After you have coordinated the input, you must also monitor outputs and trend results so that you know if your previous decisions have been successful. This is important to help everyone know where performance needs to be improved, and where it is already good.
   
6. Facilitate feedback and focus on continuous improvement.
   
   The final step in all of these steps is to focus on improvement. This comes through using data gathered by monitoring outputs, trending results, and collecting feedback from various sources. Processes can usually be improved, and you as a manager must be open to changes.

Employees often respond favorably to these steps, as they will develop trust with you, know what to expect from you, and what you expect of them. They will trust you to do your job of guiding the larger picture.