Bridging Expectations at Work: A Guide for New Workers and the People Managing Them
Part One: The Young Workers Edition
Regardless of what generation you’re from, there tends to be a set of expectations we have before entering the workforce. Often stemming from our parents and what we see in the media, these assumptions or expectations may dictate the way we behave and interact with one another within the workplace. There is nothing inherently wrong about having a set of assumptions when entering a new company. However, for many people new to working under a manager, not having these expectations met may create difficulties for the manager and overwhelm the individual. For young workers, this can make the workplace feel confusing or intimidating. For managers, it can be frustrating when new hires do not automatically understand norms that may feel obvious after years of experience. It is hard to encounter changing expectations when you’re already experiencing a completely new environment with people you don’t know, and relationships you’ve never been taught to navigate. It is important to know just how to navigate these changing expectations, along with your work, but oftentimes this is not something that is taught to young workers. The issue is not usually a lack of intelligence, effort, or professionalism. More often, it is a mismatch in expectations.
This guide is split into two parts: one for young workers learning how to navigate a new professional environment, and one for managers or older generations who want to better support and lead new hires. The goal is to make the invisible expectations of work easier to understand.
Much of the advice in this guide was shaped by a conversation with Belinda Brummer, founder of Boost Learning, who has spent most of her career working with organisations to support and develop their individual managers and leaders, as well as enhance the impact of leadership teams. Her insights emphasized the importance of curiosity, visible thinking, character, consistency, and relationship-building across generations.
Part One: A Guide for Young Workers
Starting a new job is not just about learning the tasks you were hired to do. It is also about learning how people communicate, how decisions are made, how relationships form, and how expectations are expressed. Some of this will be explained during onboarding or training, but a lot of it will not be, and arguably cannot be taught. That does not mean you are supposed to magically know everything. It means part of entering the workplace is learning how to observe, ask, adjust, and grow.
1. Communication, Email, and Workplace Etiquette
One common assumption young workers face is that because they grew up with technology, they automatically know how to communicate professionally through it. However, knowing how to use digital tools is not the same as knowing how to write a workplace email, manage tone, understand hierarchy, or decide how formal to be.
A lot of workplace communication depends on context. An email to a boss may not look the same as an email to a close colleague. A message to someone in HR may have a different tone than a message to someone on your immediate team. Even within the same company, different departments or sectors can have different communication cultures. What feels normal in one team may feel too casual, too formal, or too vague in another.
It is important to note that different companies may also use different platforms for communicating, not just email, but the following guidelines apply to all company platforms.
Start formal, then adjust.
When you are unsure how to communicate with someone, it is usually best to begin with a suitable level of formality. This means making sure your message is clear, respectful, and complete, not sounding robotic or cold.
For example, instead of writing: “Hey, can you send me that file?”
You might write: “Hello [Name], could you please send over the file we discussed earlier when you have a chance? Thank you.”
From there, pay attention to how the other person responds. If they are short and direct, you can usually become more concise. If they use a warmer or more formal tone, it may be best to mirror the person and situation. There is no perfect email style that you will use once and forever; it is important to be able to adjust and adapt how you’re emailing and learn how to read the situation.
A helpful rule is to stay formal first, then adjust based on the person, the relationship, and the context.
Always sign off with your name.
Even if the email chain has been going back and forth for a while, it is still good practice to sign off with your name. This may seem small, but it keeps your communication polished and complete. It also reminds the reader that there is a person behind the message.
A sign-off does not have to be complicated. It can be as simple as:
“Best, “Thank you,
[Your Name]” or [Your Name]”
This may seem like an unnecessary formality, but it actually helps create a consistent professional habit. Even when emails become shorter or more familiar, signing off with your name helps maintain clarity and respect.
Let your personality come through, but stay aware of context.
Professionalism does not mean removing all authenticity. In fact, your personality matters, even in emails. A message can be professional and still sound like you. It can be warm, thoughtful, direct, or curious without becoming too casual.
This is especially important when you want to build real workplace relationships. If every message you send sounds cold or copied from a template, it may be harder for people to connect with you. Being genuine in your communication helps people understand who you are and how you work.
At the same time, authenticity should be balanced with awareness. You may write more casually to a close colleague than you would to a senior leader, a client, or someone in another department. The goal is not to hide who you are, but to understand where you are and what you are trying to achieve.
As Belinda emphasized in our conversation, communication is not only about transferring information. It is also about showing how you think, how you relate to others, and how you build trust.
2. Navigating Workplace Relationships
Another common assumption is that workplace relationships are either purely professional or deeply personal. Young workers may enter a job thinking coworkers are simply the people they complete tasks with. Managers or older coworkers, on the other hand, may expect more relationship-building, informal conversation, or interest in the wider workplace community. And vice versa, some young workers may expect instant connections and mentorship, while their coworkers and managers may prefer a more reserved approach.
Neither side is completely wrong. It is healthy to have boundaries at work. But it is also true that relationships can shape how work gets done. People are often more willing to support, mentor, explain, collaborate, and advocate for someone they feel connected to. Workplace relationships can be built through curiosity, respect, and genuine interest.
Stay curious, even after onboarding.
Curiosity should not end once the formal onboarding process is over. In fact, some of the most useful learning happens after you have been in the role long enough to understand what you do not know yet.
Ask people what they do. Ask how their work connects to yours. Ask how they prefer to communicate. Ask what they wish new people understood about their team. These questions do not have to be big or formal. They can happen naturally in meetings, quick conversations, or follow-up messages.
Being curious shows that you are not only focused on your own tasks, but also interested in the wider environment you are part of. It helps you understand how the workplace actually functions, not just how your job description explains it.
Curiosity also helps you build confidence. The more you understand what people do and how they work, the less intimidating the workplace becomes. The more you can connect what you do and why you do it to that workplace and the people in it, the more fruitful your experience will become.
See the person behind the title.
Titles can be intimidating. Manager, director, founder, supervisor, senior lead — these titles can make people feel distant or unapproachable. Young workers may assume that people with important titles are too busy, too powerful, or too different from them to form real connections with.
But every person at work has a life behind their title. They have interests, pressures, habits, insecurities, families, goals, and experiences that exist beyond their role. Remembering this can make it easier to interact with people more naturally.
You do not have to start ignoring hierarchy or being overly familiar at all. But it is important not to let a title completely determine how you see someone. A person’s role may shape the context of your relationship, but it does not erase their humanity.
If you only see someone as their title, you may limit the kind of connection that is possible. You may also make yourself more nervous than you need to be. Respect the role, but do not forget the person.
Let your own experience guide how you treat people.
In any workplace, people come with reputations. You may hear that someone is difficult, intimidating, cold, brilliant, demanding, friendly, or unapproachable before you ever speak to them yourself. While it is useful to listen and be aware, it is also important not to let someone else’s experience completely shape your own.
Let your own interactions with a person guide how you connect with them. Someone who feels intimidating to one coworker may become a mentor to you. Someone who has a big title may turn out to be generous with their time. Someone with a reputation for being direct may simply communicate differently than you expected.
Real workplace relationships require openness. If you want people to see you as more than “the new young worker,” you also have to practice seeing them as more than their title, age, reputation, or role.
3. Independence, Feedback, and Understanding What “Good Work” Looks Like
A third expectation that often causes tension is independence. Managers may expect young workers to take initiative, solve problems, and figure things out without constant direction. Young workers may expect clearer instructions, more structured training, and more frequent feedback, especially when they are still learning what is considered normal or acceptable.
Both expectations make sense. Managers want to see ownership. New workers want to avoid making mistakes. The challenge is learning how to ask for help while also showing initiative.
Ask questions that show your thinking.
Instead of only saying, “I don’t know what to do,” try to show what you have already considered.
For example: “I looked through the shared folder and found last month’s version of the report. I think I can use that as a template, but I wanted to confirm whether there have been any changes to the format.”
This kind of question shows that you are trying to solve the problem, not simply handing it back to someone else. It also gives your manager a clearer sense of where you are stuck and how they can help. You are allowed to ask questions; in fact, in healthy contexts, you are encouraged to do so. You have the opportunity to show that you are thinking, learning, and building independence.
Clarify what success looks like.
Many workplace tasks come with expectations that are not clearly stated. A manager might say, “Can you put together a quick summary?” but “quick summary” could mean a paragraph, a one-page document, a slide deck, or a detailed report, depending on the person.
Rather than guessing, ask clarifying questions: “Would you like this as a short email summary, or would a document be more useful?” or “What are the key headings you’d like me to include in the summary?”
These questions can prevent confusion and help you understand what good work looks like in that specific environment.
It can also be useful to ask whether there is a previous example you can look at. A question like, “Is there an example of a summary that worked well in the past?” gives you a clearer sense of the expected format, tone, and level of detail. This does not mean you are trying to copy someone else’s work exactly. It means you are trying to understand what “good” looks like in that specific workplace context.
Ask for feedback in a specific way.
Many young workers want feedback because they are trying to understand whether they are meeting expectations. However, some managers may not naturally give feedback unless something is wrong. Silence can feel like disapproval, even when it actually means everything is fine.
If you are unsure, ask for feedback in a specific way. Instead of asking, “Am I doing okay?” try asking: “When you think about how I’m handling these updates, how could I improve them?” or “For next time, what would make the next version better?”
Specific questions are easier to answer and often lead to more useful advice.
Making the Invisible Visible
A lot of workplace tension comes from invisible expectations. Young workers are expected to know how to communicate, how to build relationships, how to ask questions, how to take initiative, and how to understand professional norms that may never have been clearly explained. Managers are expected to lead, train, correct, and support new hires while also meeting the demands of their own roles. Both sides benefit when expectations are made visible.
For young workers, the key is to enter with professionalism, curiosity, and a willingness to observe. Start with a formal approach, then adjust as the relationship evolves. Sign off with your name. Pay attention to different communication cultures across the company. Let your personality come through in genuine but appropriate ways. Build relationships by staying curious, seeing the person behind the title, and allowing your own experiences to shape how you connect with others.
The workplace is changing, but the need for communication, trust, and respect has not changed. When young workers and managers stop assuming the worst of each other, they can begin building something better: a workplace where people are not expected to read minds, but are encouraged to learn from one another.
These guides cannot stand alone; just like managers and young workers, they need one another to improve and succeed. So if you are curious and want to learn from the advice we’ve given managers, we encourage you to look at the second guide as well.