Setting clear expectations: The quiet force behind great finance teams

When I first started building a finance team, I believed that if you hired smart people and set ambitious goals, success would naturally follow.

I quickly learned it wasn’t quite that simple.

It turned out that many goals often stumbled, not because of skill or ambition, but because expectations were unclear. Clarity seemed trivial, until I saw its absence repeatedly sabotage our best efforts.

Here’s what I discovered along the way: Clear expectations aren’t just a nice-to-have – they’re foundational.

The hidden cost of ambiguity‍

Ambiguity is silent, but expensive. When expectations aren’t clear:

• Reporting deadlines slip because no one feels fully accountable.
• Quality dips because what “good enough” looks like for financial reports, audits, or month-end closes isn’t universally understood.
• Morale suffers when team members realize they've misunderstood their role in a critical financial process.

Each confusion chips away at trust and momentum, creating friction that’s surprisingly hard to overcome, especially when accuracy and timeliness are non-negotiable.

I learned firsthand that clarity isn’t about micromanagement or excessive rules. It’s about alignment, trust, and empowerment.

What clarity actually looks like

For something so powerful, clarity is deceptively simple. Here’s what worked for me:

• Define success explicitly – I don’t settle for vague descriptions like “Improve our processes.” I aim for specifics, something measurable and clear, like “Reduce month-end closing time from 7 days to 4 by July.”
• Make accountability obvious – “Someone” is no one. When expectations are set, responsibilities must follow explicitly: “Laura owns this reconciliation. She’ll provide weekly progress updates every Thursday.”
• Over-communicate, gently – I’ve learned that small misunderstandings grow into big setbacks. Regular check-ins aren’t a burden, they’re opportunities for small corrections instead of painful pivots.
• Encourage honest questions – If no one is asking questions, they’re likely assuming. Assumptions rarely lead where you hope. I work to create an environment where asking questions is praised, not feared.

How I implemented it

Putting clarity into practice took deliberate effort. I started by introducing a work management tool to help us organize our activities, responsibilities, and timelines in one place. From there, here’s how I made it real for our team:

• I mapped our key activities and workflows - I broke down recurring processes like month-end closes, reconciliations, and reporting cycles into clear, structured activities, making sure each one had a visible owner and defined outcome.
• I made expectations transparent and accessible - Instead of relying on scattered notes or verbal agreements, I organized expectations inside the tool where the whole team could see deadlines, responsibilities, and definitions of success at a glance.
• I built habits around updates and follow-ups - We introduced lightweight, regular updates tied directly to specific activities, making it easy to track progress, surface blockers early, and keep momentum without adding unnecessary meetings.
• I modeled a culture of clarity - I consistently asked clarifying questions and encouraged the team to do the same. Instead of assuming, we made it normal to verify responsibilities and expectations upfront.
• I iterated and improved - Every quarter, I reviewed how we were structuring and tracking our work. If something wasn’t clear or slowing us down, I adjusted it - making continuous improvement part of how we worked together.

By making clarity part of our day-to-day systems, not just our conversations, it became much easier to stay aligned, move faster, and deliver consistently high-quality results.

Why it matters more than you think

The beauty of clear expectations isn’t just efficiency. It’s freedom.

Clear expectations liberate finance teams to work confidently, take initiative, and collaborate across departments without constantly second-guessing themselves. I’ve seen people perform at their best when they know exactly what's expected and how their efforts connect to the broader financial vision.

Ultimately, clarity lets everyone move faster, happier, and more purposefully toward critical goals like closing books, delivering accurate reports, or driving financial improvements.

Reflection

My greatest leaps forward didn’t come from revolutionary ideas. They came from making expectations crystal clear. It wasn’t flashy, but it was transformative.

If you’re wondering why your finance team feels stuck despite talent and ambition, pause for a moment. Ask yourself: Are the expectations crystal clear?

Because clarity quietly makes great things possible.

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/ Filip Ullsten @WorkTiles