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.