The 15-Minute Conversation That Eliminated 3 Weeks of Team Conflict
How making one expectation explicit transformed everything
I watched a talented team implode over something that seemed trivial. Sarah, the project lead, expected daily updates from her team. Marcus, a senior developer, believed check-ins showed distrust of his expertise. Neither had voiced their expectations clearly.
For three weeks, Sarah interpreted Marcus's sporadic communication as carelessness. Marcus read Sarah's follow-up requests as micromanagement. Both were high performers. Both had good intentions. Both were operating from completely different rule books.
This moment crystallized something I see repeatedly with creative teams: most dysfunction stems not from bad people, but from misaligned expectations that were never made explicit.
The invisible architecture problem
Here's what most leaders don't realize: your team is already operating within a structure – it's just invisible, inconsistent, and often contradictory.
Everyone has assumptions about how decisions get made, who needs to be consulted, what "good performance" looks like, and how communication should flow. The problem? These assumptions are rarely the same person to person.
You end up with brilliant people working at cross-purposes, not because they disagree on goals, but because they're playing by different rules they never agreed to in the first place.
You can think of it as the "assumption collision" – when unspoken expectations crash into each other and create friction that drains energy from real work.
Building Empowering Containers
The most effective teams I work with have learned to make their expectations explicit and aligned. Not rigid – explicit. There's a crucial difference.
Rigid structures lock people into narrow roles regardless of context. Explicit structures create clear agreements that actually free people to perform at their best. When everyone knows the game they're playing, they can focus energy on winning rather than figuring out the rules.
This means getting specific about:
Who has decision-making authority for different types of choices
What communication everyone needs to do their best work
How leadership flows based on expertise rather than just title
When and how expectations can be renegotiated as contexts change
Think of explicit expectations as containers that channel energy rather than constrain it. A riverbed doesn't limit the water – it helps it flow powerfully toward its destination.
From confusion to flow
Try this exercise with your team: identify one recurring friction point and trace it back to misaligned expectations. Often you'll discover that clarifying one simple agreement eliminates weeks of unnecessary tension.
The goal isn't creating more rules. It's creating shared understanding that allows everyone to bring their full capability to the work that matters most.
When expectations become explicit and aligned, something beautiful happens. Energy that was wasted on confusion gets redirected toward contribution. People stop second-guessing themselves and start trusting their judgment. Teams move from managing around each other to building upon each other.
Your team stops wondering "What's expected of me?" and starts asking "How can I contribute most effectively?"
The structure you need isn't more complex – it's more clear.
Warmly,
Marc
What’s next?
Is your team operating from the same playbook, or are conflicting expectations creating invisible friction? The Team Chemistry Map™ reveals how effectively your team handles “Fluid Architecture” alongside the other 8 dimensions of high-chemistry teams. Get your free assessment and discover where clearer agreements could unlock breakthrough performance.