Set the Expectations. Transfer the Ownership.

Cristina Stensvaag

Sep 8

2 min read

You can set clear expectations without ownership. But you need both for true accountability.

September 8, 2026

Originally published in One More Rep, a weekly newsletter for people managers who want to get better through practice. Subscribe here — it's free.

Week 36. Rep 36. Last week you identified your weakest rep in the Accountability System. This week we start at the beginning with the rep that makes everything else possible.

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The Moment

You ask your direct to handle something. You explain what you need and they nod. A week later the work comes back and it's not what you had in mind.

You're frustrated. They're confused.

The Pattern

Expectation-setting breaks down in one of two places. The work gets defined but "done" doesn't. You said what you needed, you didn't say what success looks like when it's finished. Or the work and done both get defined, but ownership was never transferred and accepted.

Why This Matters

Clear expectations eliminate ambiguity before execution begins. They define the outcome, not the process. Your job isn't to tell someone how to do the work. It's to make sure they know what done looks like and that it's unmistakably theirs to deliver.

When ownership isn't explicitly accepted, both people leave the conversation thinking someone else is responsible and accountability disappears.

Rep

This Week's Practice

This week you're running Rep 1 of the Accountability System: Set Clear Expectations with a Clean Handoff.

The four moves:

Define the work. State the task, responsibility, or behavioral standard clearly.
Define what done looks like. Clarify what success looks like when the work is complete.
Confirm shared understanding. Make sure both people interpret the expectation the same way. "What's your understanding of what we need?" "To make sure I didn't miss anything, can you tell me what you heard?"
Clean handoff. Ownership must be transferred and accepted. "Will you take ownership of this?"

Your Rep

Choose a project that you're planning to delegate. Use all four moves in that delegation conversation.

What to Notice

Success looks like:

The other person can repeat back the expectations and what done looks like.
Ownership is explicitly accepted, not assumed.

Resistance looks like:

Skipping the confirmation step because it feels awkward.
Assuming that ownership transferred and was accepted.

It's working when:

Work comes back matching the agreed-upon "done."

Common Mistakes

Mistake #1: Defining the process instead of the outcome. Telling someone how to do the work isn't setting an expectation, it's giving instructions. Define what done looks like and leave the how to them. That's where ownership lives.

Mistake #2: Skipping the confirmation step. "Does that make sense?" is not a confirmation. "What's your understanding of what we need?" requires them to show you their interpretation, which is where misalignment surfaces. Does it feel awkward at first? Probably. Does it eliminate the issue of unclear expectations? Definitely.

Reflect

Did you realize mid-conversation that "done" was fuzzier than you thought? What did you do?
What would change on your team if every expectation was stated this clearly?

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Cristina Stensvaag is co-founder of LeaderReps and creator of One More Rep, a weekly practice-based leadership newsletter for people managers.