• Do you sometimes feel that your boss expects nothing short of perfection? 

• Did you ever wonder why you feel so exhausted at the end of the day?

You aren't alone. I've been in this situation before, and while it was challenging for me, I felt compelled to come up with coping strategies to keep my nerves from getting the best of me. Managing high job expectations can be tough but it isn't impossible! It's important to learn skills how to deal with high job expectations so that you become more effective at your job and stress does not get the better of you.

High job expectations are one of the top reasons that people leave their job. In fact, a survey by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) found that 56% of workers had left a job because of a lack of advancement opportunities. A survey by CareerBuilder found that 35% of employees who left their job did so because they didn't think they were being paid enough. And a survey by the Business-to-Business Council found that employees who were dissatisfied with their company's growth prospects were nearly six times more likely to leave their job than those who were satisfied.

Now let us see:

I. What are high job expectations? 

High job expectations refer to the expectations placed upon you on the job. If you're placed under high expectations, then you will be expected to deliver high-quality results. This can be a positive and negative thing. If you're a person who thrives under pressure, then you may enjoy having high expectations for your work. But if you're the type of person who doesn't like to be stressed out, then it can be nerve-wracking to have high expectations for your work and performance.

If you are in a high-pressure job, you have more than likely been in a situation where you have high expectations of yourself. This can lead to disappointment, stress, and even anxiety. This blog will look at how you can manage your high expectations and reframe your thinking and cope better with high expectations.

II. How to put things into perspective in high expectations?

High job expectations can put you in a bind, as they can cause you to feel overwhelmed, unfulfilled, and even unhappy with your work. You can't turn a blind eye to your job and coast along. You have to work hard to meet your expectations, which can cause you to experience a lot of stress. There are ways to manage your high job expectations so that you can live up to them and be happy.

III. What can you do to meet these expectations?

(9 Steps to meet high job expectations)

Many different tools can help you deal with high job expectations.  The goal is to handle your job expectations more effectively, feel better, and accomplish more in less time.  For those with a boss who always expects the best, this is a must!

1. Define Scope of work: Have a discussion with your boss and ensure the Scope of your work is clearly understood, results that would measure, items prioritized, and the timeline is mutually agreed upon and documented. 

2. Organize your work:  When you create an action plan, you'll find that it's easier to deal with high expectations. Create a list of the things you need to get done and prioritize them, so if you start to feel distracted or stressed out, you can always defer it.  When you have a plan, your performance will live up to your expectations, and you will find that you are less likely to give in to stress and frustration.

3. Take ownership: We are all responsible for our careers. If you sit there waiting for things to be delivered to you, you will be waiting a long time. Make sure you know what you want before asking the employer to deliver. If you don’t know what you are looking for, how can they? However, some responsibility does lie with the employer. As the employer, we need to be enablers. We enable our employees to feel comfortable enough to be open and honest with us. We should work hand in hand with them to achieve their goals – if they achieve their goals, the business does too. It’s a win-win situation.

4. Provide Regular updates: You can't expect the boss to go out of their way and find out how well your work is going. They may not have all the information, so you need to update them and provide necessary updates on an ongoing basis. They will enable the boss to have a better understanding of the demands of the task.

5. Raise Red-Flags: The moment you encounter a problem in delivering, update your boss. It's not enough to narrate the problem, but let them know what action you took to reduce or eliminate it. Delaying in informing about issues will cause them to lose trust in you. Engage them in the solution as they could provide you with the resource for resolving the issue. If, for any reason, you can't deliver to their expectations, let them know immediately. 

6. Always try to imagine the worst-case scenario for your situation and anticipate possible outcomes. Having a plan B (and C) can help ensure that you meet expectations, even when things go wrong.

7. Prepare for the stress:  When you know you're going to be stressed out or that expectations will be high, you can proactively prepare for it to take the debilitating properties out of the equation.  For example, if you're worried about the uncertainty you can't control, involve others to find out the answers. If it's impossible to predict, all you can do is accept that you can't control everything and make some contingency plans to help you feel more confident and comfortable. 

   A professor raised his glass of water in front of the students. “How heavy is this glass of water, you think?” he asked with a smile. The students’ answers ranged from 10 oz to 20 oz. “Okay. Now, could one of you come here and help me hold the glass?” A girl walked to her table and held the glass. After a few minutes, the girl said, “Sir, I am tired, is it ok to leave the glass on the table now?” The professor smiled, nodded yes, and said to the students, “Imagine if you have to hold this glass for an hour or even a day! Would you think now that 10 or 20 oz weight too little?

8. Rehearse for stressful situations:  For instance, if you know that you will be making a presentation in front of an audience or have to present information to your boss, rehearse your presentation using the same materials you will use for the real deal. This process allows you to see your areas of opportunity to work on gaining the confidence you need.  When you rehearse, you take the unknown out of the equation so you can focus on doing your best without adding any additional anxiety.

9. Seek Guidance - If the boss disagrees with your assessment that your expectations should present a problem, you need an objective opinion. You may be inadvertently misinterpreting the direction the boss has given. Perhaps you don’t fully grasp the direction or the extent of the work involved in a given task. Don’t seek out your work BFF, as they may not have the perspective or experience unless you know they understand your work and have a good working history with the boss. You need to seek counsel with someone who can help you see the task in a new way or to help refine the direction the boss has given. You might discover a better way of doing your work.

Use All Your Strength A young boy and his father were walking along a forest road. At some point, they came across a large tree branch on the ground in front of them. The boy asked his father, “If I try, do you think I could move that branch?” His father replied, “I am sure you can if you use all your strength.” The boy tried his best to lift or push the branch, but he was not strong enough and he couldn't move it. He said, with disappointment, “You were wrong, dad. I can't move it.” “Try again,” replied his father.

Again, the boy tried hard to push the branch. He struggled but it did not move. “Dad, I cannot do it,” said the boy. Finally, his father said, “Son, I advised you to use all your strength. You didn’t. You didn't ask for my help.”

• Be aware of your thought processes: Often, when high expectations are placed upon us, we start thinking negatively.  For instance, when your boss is demanding, you may think to yourself, "There is no way I can ever get that done! I'm incapable!" This kind of self-defeating talk gets you nowhere. You need to replace the negative thought processes with thoughts like, "Stress challenges me to do more and be more." You will be able to excel when you disallow any negative attitudes and replace them with empowering thoughts.

As you can see, there are some simple yet effective ways to deal with high expectations. 

Having high job expectations is a good thing because you're aiming for greatness. You have to make sure you have high expectations for yourself if you wish to grow professionally. If you want to be the best at your job, you must constantly work hard and push yourself. It would be best if you always looked to hone new skills and learn something new every day. The key is to maintain a good work-life balance. If you don't, you could end up burning out. You will also feel happier because you will be proud of your work.

Remember: when people expect a lot from you, it means that they believe you're capable of great things. It's a compliment!

How confident are you that you'll achieve these objectives?

Would you please provide your comments?

In Conclusion:

Managing high job expectations can be tricky, but there are ways to do it right. There is no one-size-fits-all solution to managing high expectations.

With job expectations being raised daily, it’s important to stay on top of your game to keep your job. Hope the tips would be useful in managing your expectations at work and handle your workload and responsibilities.

That is all in this blog. Until next time.

Good-Bye

Take Care