The Human Cost of Role Confusion at Work

Role ambiguity erodes more than just productivity — it undermines confidence, increases stress, and weakens team dynamics. When responsibilities and expectations are unclear, even high performers struggle. Organizations may mistake these symptoms for capacity issues when the root cause is lack of clarity.

I’m Seeing Patterns…What Are People Saying?

In the last several months, I’ve had three separate conversations with three former colleagues. All are senior-level, ambitious high performers.

They work in different sectors, yet they are all struggling with the same problem for extended periods of time: role ambiguity and unclear expectations. In all three situations, each person has become frustrated, disengaged, less enamoured with their leadership and most significantly, seriously stressed out to the point it is impacting their health and overall well being.

Is Role Ambiguity a Hidden Wellness Risk?

We often talk about workplace wellness in terms of work-life balance, workload, or hybrid work models. But what’s less visible and arguably just as damaging is the chronic stress caused by not knowing where your responsibilities begin or end.

Lack of clarity leads to:

• • Emotional fatigue from constant guesswork (“Am I doing the right thing?”)
  • Persistent self-doubt (“Am I even adding value?”)
  • Hesitation in decision-making (“Am I in someone else’s lane?”, “Is this a priority?”)

For some employees, this shows up as an erosion of confidence. For others, it leads to disengagement, anxiety, or even burnout. Employees are not overwhelmed because they’re doing too much, they’re overwhelmed and experiencing these symptoms because they never know where the finish line is or what “good” looks like.

Are You Assuming Your Team Just “Gets It”?

It’s easy to assume that people “just know” their roles, especially in senior positions. But this is an unfair assumption, especially if:

• • The role was newly created or if there was a recent reorganization
  • The organization is growing quickly or has shifting priorities
  • High performers expected to “figure it out” because they’ve been successful before

Even at the senior-most levels, people need clarity. Consider asking yourself:

• • Has this person been set up with clearly defined objectives?
  • Do they know where collaboration is required and where they have decision making responsibilities?
  • Is their role aligned with the organization’s current direction, or are there leftovers from last year’s business plan?

If the answer is “not quite,” the cost may already be showing up in engagement, performance, and execution.

What does Role Clarity Look Like in Practice?

Clarity doesn’t mean rigidity, it means intentionality.

Start by looking at four areas:

1. Decision Rights: Revisit with questions like, “Who owns what? Who needs to be consulted?”
2. Purpose: Define the ‘why’ behind the role, what need is this position filling?
3. Overlap: Check for duplication or drift — are others unknowingly doing similar work?
4. Alignment: Connect roles to strategy: If the strategy shifts, make the change in responsibilities and expectations visible too.

Even a simple, structured role alignment session can surface unspoken assumptions and reduce unnecessary stress.

Final Thoughts

If your organization is experiencing burnout, reduced performance or stalled execution, it may not be a workload or capacity issue, it might be a clarity issue.

If your team is operating in the grey (unclear on who owns what, where decisions get made, or what success looks like) you're not alone. Stratford’s People & Culture consultants work with organizations to bring structure to ambiguity, helping leaders realign roles, rebuild confidence, and re-energize performance. Connect with us to explore how we can support your team in creating clarity where it counts.

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