Role clarity: when people do not know what is expected

Role clarity is about three things: knowing what is expected, where your responsibility ends, and what counts as good enough. Without one of them, energy goes into guessing instead of working.

Updated October 6, 2026 · 3 min read

What the law says

aml § 4-3 (2) aUnclear or conflicting demands and expectations in the work are a psychosocial working environment factor.Regulation § 1A-1 aThe same factor is named in the regulation on the performance of work, which also requires it to be surveyed and risk-assessed where relevant.

In its comments, Arbeidstilsynet writes that the demands can concern tasks, methods, quality, pace, deadlines, areas of responsibility, division of roles or priorities, and that they can come from managers, colleagues, partners or the employee themselves. Unclear demands are often called role ambiguity, conflicting demands role conflict. Read more about conflicting demands.

What Orgpuls asks

The factor «Role clarity» is measured with three statements, answered on a five-point scale from strongly disagree to strongly agree:

«I know what is expected of me in my job»
«I know where my responsibility ends and others begin»
«I know what counts as good work here»

Read the number right

Which statement is lowest? Unclear expectations, unclear responsibility and an unclear «good enough» are each solved differently.
New starters or everyone? Low role clarity among new people points to onboarding. Among everyone, it points to the organisation.
After a change? A reorganisation or a new manager often brings a drop that does not fix itself.

Common causes

Role ambiguity rarely happens because anyone wants it. It most often comes from:

jobs that have grown without anyone writing down what they now cover
grey zones between two roles or two departments
changes in organisation or management not followed by new clarification
onboarding that stops after the first week
feedback too rare for people to know whether they are on target

Three measures that work

An expectations conversation with every employeeThe leader and the employee write down the three most important areas of responsibility and what counts as good enough. Time: 30 min. Watch: «I know what is expected of me in my job»

Workshop: Who does whatThe team goes through the grey zones where it is unclear who is responsible, and assigns them. Time: 90 min. Watch: «I know where my responsibility ends and others begin»

A training plan for new hiresA written plan for what new hires are to learn, from whom, and when they count as fully trained. Time: The first 3 months. Watch: «I know what counts as good work here»

The research behind it: role clarity is closely tied to job satisfaction and lower stress, and good training at the start has a lasting effect.

Measure whether it helped

Run a short pulse on the factor a couple of months after the measure is in place. If the number does not move, the measure missed the cause, and you need to go back to the group and ask again. Read more about getting from results to measures and going through the results with your employees.

Sources

This is general information, not legal advice. We checked what the law says with Lovdata and Arbeidstilsynet in September 2026.

Conflicting demands: when no one says what should give wayWhen two managers or two concerns ask for things that do not fit together. What the law says, common causes and three measures that sort it out.Read the article →Support from managers: when the score is lowA low score on support from managers in your work environment survey? What the law says, how to read it, common causes and three measures that work.Read the article →

See where you stand

Orgpuls measures «Role clarity» and ten other factors anonymously, and suggests measures where the number is low. The first 15 days are free.

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