Managing expectations - 4 rules to live by
18 August 2008This will be the best blog post you’ve ever read.
That’s quite a statement to live up to. Beyond overstating my own abilities, there is the subject matter that I am writing about. Could what I have to say really be that interesting?
Furthermore, I don’t have any way of knowing what else you have read. You may have already read the best blog post ever, in which case I’m doomed.
So why on earth would I set your expectations so high right from the start? I have already set you up for disappointment. If this isn’t really the best post you have ever read, I have let you down. I have not met your expectations. Everyone can see how foolish this is.
Yet people do it every day.
Don’t follow this example — set expectations properly with everyone around you. Seek to make people happy with what you do, not what you say. It’s easy to promise and take front end-glory (getting credit for something by talking about it before you do it). Superstars consistently exceed expectations.
My four rules of managing expectations:
- Understand what expectations you have set — The first step in properly managing expectations is to be aware of the ones you are setting. Every time you speak, chances are you are setting an expectation. You are establishing a guideline for how well you will do something, and giving an indication when you will be done. If either one is not done, you have not met the other persons expectations.
- Set expectations correctly from the start — The second rule for properly managing expectations is to set them correctly. Duh!. I’m continually amazed at how people mess this part up. Most people don’t understand that in almost every situation, they have the power to set expectations — so that they will be set for your success. Yet they ignore this opportunity. Sometimes out of immaturity, or the desire for front-end glory.
- Communicate along the way ; reset expectations as needed — The third rule in properly managing expectations is to monitor expectations and progress along the way, and communicate (reset) expectations if necessary. If new circumstances are going to prevent you from meeting the original expectations you set, you need to proactively reset expectations. This must be done before the original expectation passes.
- Strive to exceed all expectations — The fourth rule in properly managing expectations is to perform. Do what you committed to, and more. This doesn’t necessarily mean being an over-acheiver. Remember, you set the expectations in the first place, so it should be easy to exceed them, right? ;-).
Let’s walk through an example. First, we will follow Joe through a normal work week. Joe doesn’t understand how to set expectations, and we will see that things don’t work out so well for him. Then we will use some of the rules above to retool the situation, flex our universe a bit, and see how things could have turned out better.
Scenario #1 - Joe works with Mike, his boss, on a new project. See if you can identify the mistakes Joe has made. 5 bonus points for each of these mistakes you have made yourself. 
Monday morning - Joe is sitting with his boss, Mike, in a meeting to discuss a new project. Mike outlines what needs to be done, and asks Joe for an estimate on how long it will take. Joe doesn’t have a clear understanding of what needs to be done, but is eager to show his boss that he "gets it". He also wants to impress his boss with his ability to work quickly.
"This looks pretty straightforward," Joe says "I think this is about two days worth of work".
Mike seems skeptical. "Really? Two days? You sure?".
"Yeah, I think so." Joe, in his immaturity, aims to preserve ego instead of obtain clarity.
Mike responds, "Ok, go ahead and get started. Let me know how it goes."
Joe, still not thinking, "Yeah sure, will do."
Joe goes back to his desk. He’s ready to get started on the work for Mike, but he remembers that before he can get started, he needs to finish up some work from last week that he started for Angela from Accounting. Shoot. Well, Mike’s work will have to wait.
At about noon, Joe finishes the work for Angela and gets started on Mike’s work. As he gets his mind focused on the project, some of the details start to surface. Joe realizes that his original estimate of 2 days is off, there is a lot of work to do. Joe tells himself, "Better stay focused and work hard."
Tuesday - Joe continues working. He is a hard worker, so he stays late on Tuesday to try to make up for being behind. He gets stalled because he needs access to the servers from the Operations team. They take more than 5 hours to complete something that should have been very easy for them to do. But they are busy, and can’t be nudged any faster.
Wednesday - Joe is about 25% done. There is more work than he thought, and the progress has been slow because of some unforseeable obstacles beyond his control (the Operations team). At the end of the day, Mike is wondering what’s going on. He thinks to himself, "Didn’t I ask Joe to keep me informed along the way?". He drops by Joe’s desk.
"Hey Joe. How is that project going?"
"Um. It’s kind of….Well. I’ve run into a problem with the flux capacitor." - Joe stammers.
"Uh oh. So are we still on track for it to be done today?" - Mike asks.
Joe is surprised, "I didn’t tell you it would be done today. What do you mean? I’m not even half done."
Mike is shocked. He knows that Joe told him it would be two days of work. "Has Joe been slacking off?" Mike thinks to himself. Mike isn’t happy, and his tone of voice reflects it, "Joe, I’m sure we talked about this on Monday. You said it was two days of work. I also asked you to keep me updated along the way if there were any problems. I was expecting you to have this done today, and now you are telling me that it is only halfway done? This is going to cause big problems for us. I have already told other people this would be done based on what you told me."
Mike pauses, with an angry look on his face. "I’ll need you to stay late and work on this. It needs to be done by Friday. Now I have to go tell my boss that it won’t be done on time."
Joe is frustrated too. He swears he never said it would be done by today, and it’s not his fault that he isn’t done. It’s Angela from accounting, and the Operations team for not getting him access to the servers in time. He tries to plead his case to Mike, but it just infuriates Mike even more.
"Stop making excuses. Just make sure you get it done before Friday!" Mike scolds.
Thursday Joe gets in early, and works throughout the day to get it done. "Gotta get this done by Friday" he tells himself. Joe leaves late on Thursday. "I’m almost done, should be easy to wrap up in the morning."
Mike checks his e-mail late from home. He knows that he told Joe to have this done before Friday, or else. No e-mail from Joe with the completed project. No status update on what is going on. "What in the hell is this guy doing?" He can’t believe that Joe isn’t doing his work.
Friday - Joe comes to work Friday morning to find a note from Human Resources. Mike fires Joe for not getting any work done, not communicating, and slacking off.
End result — Joe works hard, but Mike’s expectations were continually let down, so his perceived performance is in the toilet, which causes him to lose his job.
Did you identify all the mistakes that Joe made?
- Joe didn’t have a clear idea of the amount of work to be done, but committed to a timeframe anyway.
- Joe set an expectation that this will be done on Wednesday. He didn’t realise it when he did, he thought he was just quoting how much effort the project was. He needed to be more careful about expectations that were set.
- Joe should have better qualified his work estimate, so that Mike would know that it was a rough estimate, and may change once he explored the details.
- Joe just set an expectation that he will communicate his status along the way, but didn’t.
- Joe should have let Mike know about the delay because of the work for Angela
- Joe should have let Mike know when he saw that the work would take longer than the original estimate.
- Joe should have understood that when Mike said "before Friday", he actually meant Thursday night. Even though this miscommunication could be attributed to Mike, in the end it wound up being Joe’s problem.
Now, let’s take a look at the above scenario again, this time with proper expectation setting.
Scenario #2 - Bill and Mike work on a project. Unlike Joe, Bill understands how to correctly set expectations.
Monday morning - Bill is sitting with his boss, Mike, in a meeting to discuss a new project. Mike outlines what needs to be done, and asks Bill for an estimate on how long it will take. Bill doesn’t have a clear understanding of what needs to be done, so he tells Mike he is going to need to spend a few minutes looking at it to get an idea.
"Sure thing." Mike agrees, happy that he is going to get an accurate estimate.
Bill knows he still has that work to finish up for Angela before he can take a look. He thinks he will be done with Angela’s work by 11:30, but pads some extra time. "Mike, I have 3 hours of work to finish up for Angela, but I’ll let you know by 1pm how long this project will take." Bill says.
Mike squirms. He needs to know sooner, because he has other people depending on his answer. "I need you to work on this now. What is it that you are working on for Angela? Nevermind, don’t explain. I’ll just go tell her that it will have to wait. Please start on this now."
Bill is relieved, he didn’t want to work on the stuff for Angela anyway. With Mike talking to Angela for him, he is able to get started right away on his project for Mike.
30 minutes later, Bill comes back to Mike with an estimate. "Mike, I think this is about 2.5 days worth of work. I’ll also need access to the servers from the Operations team. If I can get that without any obstacles, I think that I can have this ready for you by the end of the day Wednesday".
"Sounds great". Mike seems pleased.
Bill begins his work on the project. As he gets his mind focused, some of the details start to come to light. Bill realizes that his original estimate of 2.5 days is off, there is more work to do than he thought. Bill knows that he may not make the original deadline.
Bill sends a quick e-mail to Mike: "Hey Mike, just a heads up, this is harder than I thought, and it may take longer than expected. I need to revise my original estimate to Thursday instead. Also, this depends on me getting access from the Operations team."
Mike writes back: "Bill, thanks for keeping me informed. Thursday should be fine, it’s still early and I haven’t told anyone yet. And don’t worry about the Operations team. I will talk to them right now and get you the access you need."
Tuesday - Bill continues working through the day. He had padded his original estimate by 10%, so he feels good about getting done on time.
Wednesday - Bill is about 75% done. He remembers that Mike wanted to be informed along the way, so he sends a quick status update: "Project is going well and 75% done. Thanks for getting Angela off my back 
and nudging the Operations guy along. We are still on track for end of the day tomorrow. (Thursday)"
Thursday Bill finishes the project Thursday morning. With some extra time, he does a little extra work on the project to have it done even better. He delivers it ahead of schedule at noon on Thursday. Mike has had his expectations exceeded with both the quality of the work and the timing, and gives bill a raise.
End result — Bill works less hard than Joe, but his perceived performance was completely different, because of effective communication and managing of expectations. Bill got the project done sooner, and with extra work done. Bill understood what expectations he set, he set expectations correctly from the start, he communicated and reset expectations as needed, and he focused on exceeding those expectations.
Correctly managing expectations can make a tremendous difference in the work place, and with everyone around you.
