Managing Expectation - Part 2

Last week, we started introduced the concept of managing expectations.  This week, let's continue . . .

Meaningful:  We’ve placed information in a context, which will help make it meaningful.  But perhaps paramount in persuasive efforts is to know your audience sufficiently well to target the information against their individual needs.  This requires that you understand and respect their point of view or current expectations.  I’ve found that the first step in the “conversion” process (moving someone from one set of expectations to a different or modified set) is to state and give credence to their current expectations.  Confrontation only solidifies their views by forcing them to defend them.  Hearing my position accurately articulated back to me without bias is very disarming and is the first step in the modification process.  Then providing information that aligns with my individual needs or provides solutions to my problems completes the process.

Convincing:  Something that is meaningful is not always convincing.  Something that improves my situation usually is.  Managing expectations is a process of convincing someone that their current expectations are unrealistic or flawed (incomplete or contain unconsidered costs) and that moving to new or improved expectations is to their advantage.  Convincing requires that you first establish some form of common ground and then demonstrate a compelling case for change.  Uncovering and challenging underlying assumptions is a better means of encouraging change than to challenge information or facts.

Most communication is not as simple as we would like it to be, and communication focused on expectation modification can be very difficult and time consuming.  The difficulty frequently causes us to avoid it (in hopes that things will change without our effort) or hurry through important communications, and the overwhelming amount that is necessary to manage expectations can cause even the most seasoned of us to wince.  When you consider the fact that your job is to build support for the project and leverage that support to successful completion, the importance of this critical function becomes clear and the time seems worth it.

In the next post, I'll review the model used to identify where stakeholder expectations are not aligned.  This model can be quickly employed to develop your alignment strategy and identify specific stakeholders where this type of focused communication is needed.   Until next time . . . .

Managing Expectations - Part 1

Over the next few days, I'm going to address expectations: creating, managing and aligning them.  Most of us are pretty fast to develop them and very slow to want to modify them.   In fact, experience suggests that more than twice the energy needed to create expectations is required to modify them once they are set.  And what does it take to establish or modify them?  Information communicated in a way that is understood, meaningful and convincing.  OK, let’s break that down and see what it takes to apply it in your project environment.

Information:  There is a big difference between information and data.  Data are facts, numbers or details without judgment or conclusions.  Information is analysis that paints a picture or encourages / facilitates / provides conclusions.  Today we are bombarded by both information and data.  Pop-ups, SPAM, advertisements, telemarketers, etc. all competing for your attention.  We are in the information age.  Information is power.  You’ve heard them all.  However, if your experience mirrors mine, very little of it is provided in a way that I find valuable.  And because so much of it fails to meet or align with our needs, we spend a great deal of time avoiding and destroying it.  On the other hand, information that is tied to a specific need very quickly filters to the top of our priority lists and can even promote action. So let’s consider some ways of improving information delivery to stimulate expectation modification.

Understood:  To move me to action, inforamtion must be understood and be affiliated with something that has value to me.  Thus, information must be delivered with a clear context.  It is best prefaced with a clear statement of the need with which it is aligned, and followed by a specific benefit summary.  Good information is also presented in a format that recognizes and meets individual needs.  (For specific information on Profiling Key Stakeholders, refer to the Managing Stakeholders section of your participant materials from the PLE program.  But as an example, if you are expecting a short, concise, to-the-point communication, and get pages . . .  well, need I say more?)  As you might suspect, it needs to be communicated differently to various people, adding complexity and time to your communication efforts. . .  but understanding is key to getting buy-in, commitment, and alignment. 

Creating Ownership

About Ownership: The most commonly identified reason for project failure is lack of individual / team motivation. Motivation derives from an ultimate sense of control over one’s environment, control over what one does, an ability to make choices, and the freedom to express ourselves through, and own what we create. Ownership is “to have control over, independence of outside help or control”. It is plain to see that ownership is tightly linked with motivation, and thus with project success.

Creating Ownership: Perhaps the most challenging task for any leaders is to guide without usurping ownership. Much of what we learn of leadership in the hierarchal organization ultimately limits and often robs groups of ownership. Following are some tips for the project leader on how to use work breakdown structure (WBS) to establish ownership:
û Clearly define “what” needs to be done and ensure the team understands it is owned by the customer / project sponsor
û Share info from project requirements documents AFTER the WBS – sooner robs ownership and minimizes creativity
û Ensure every team member is present, engages and participates in the WBS process
û Answering questions may provide information or limit creativity / steal ownership – THINK before responding!
û Don’t solve problems, encourage the team to continue identifying options until they discover one that all can support
û Ensure consensus; each team member feels heard, considered, and will support ultimate decision
û Hold your opinions / ideas – there will be time after WBS to reconcile them with what the team owns

Maintaining Ownership: Management frustration from lack of visible progress is the most common reason for intervention, and when management intervenes, team ownership is threatened and project success is in jeopardy. Maintaining ownership requires the project leader to create a barrier around the team and protect them from well-intended management “help”. Following are some tips on how to create that barrier and protect ownership by your core team:
û Ensure stakeholder maps are kept current – add new stakeholders as they emerge
û Communicate task and milestone completion regularly to stakeholders – be proactive about communication
û Take communication to stakeholders - if they come to the team they may inadvertently be perceived as a team member
û Report solutions for every problem – demonstrating initiative preserves ownership and prevents potential intrusion
û Keep team and stakeholders focused on project goals and success measures – power / autonomy comes from alignment
û Identify early in the process how the team will handle requests for change – maintaining scope preserves ownership

If you keep your leadership focused on the creation and maintenance of ownership, the probability of project success increases geometrically. Once the team clearly understands the mission, ownership will drives project success!