Today I'm sharing a failure with you. I hate to screw up, but I sometimes do. Managing expectations is my latest lesson. I don't mind when I fail as long as I make sure I take that lesson with me to my next day's and future project tasks. One of these days I'm going to royally mess up and I view that as the day I really learn something new. So what did I do? I failed to set expectations.
Of course, once I take a minute to reflect on the whole view of managing expectations, I find other areas where I could have been better in setting expectations... a project here, a phone call there, a task here. Hopefully this new lesson is further sealed inside my head so I'm not repeating this in the future. Take a hit on me and learn from my lesson.
Managing expectations, as I have pretty much always said, if often the hardest part of any project. I would almost say it doesn't matter what you're doing and who you are working with, setting and managing those expectations... constantly... will be tricky. So how do you best set and manage expectations? Here are a few suggestions to begin:
- In your initial meeting, even if the people you're speaking with are not clients yet, you have to paint a picture of how things will roll. Let's take a marketing plan as example. If I am working with a prospect on creating a marketing plan for their business, I need to set clear guidelines on how the process of the plan will work, how much time we need, what a marketing plan will realistically do for you, etc. Get it all on the table up front.
- Now you manage all that you said the first time. I would break it in to phases or steps and provide a project plan or update weekly to those steps, or as determined in your initial meeting.
- When/if something goes wrong, address it immediately with what happened, why, how you'll fix this and what it means to the overall picture.
- When new ideas or a shift in scope lands on your lap, communicate this as a change immediately. Share how it changes, how the scope of the work shifts and what this means to the greater good of the task. If it's a big change, you may even need to put it all in writing or submit a new contract.
- At the end of the work, ask for feedback. We truly don't know how well we did when we sit back in our own chair in our own minds and assess the work. You have to ask. Be ready for honest feedback - in fact, insist on it. Hire an outside source to follow up for you at the end of each project completion. This step will help you make sure you're managing your expectations well. Poor feedback is great - it gives you a list in which to improve your process or yourself. Be thankful for honest, constructive feedback.
I'm sure you find ways to exceed expectations while you're going through your project. Work in those ideas and constantly look for ways to improve. It's those little items that can work for your against you.
Please share your comments on managing expectations with our readers. Join the discussion to help us all improve. Here's to all of us setting, managing and exceeding great expectations on our next task.
















