The Importance of Managing Expectations

Businesses, organizations, client relationships, and personal relationships would operate exponentially better if every person made managing expectations a conscious priority. It is essential in every job position and in every relationship. Communicating what you will be doing and when you will be doing it immediately instills confidence. Communicating quickly when things change always lessens the discomfort (no guarantees it still won't be unpleasant). 

The concept is simple but it needs to be practiced.

The first step and fundamental formula for managing expectations is: What + When. Both components of the formula are critical. They do not work without the other. 

• What you need to do your task and the date you need it
  • "I need the server credentials by end of day Thursday."
• What you will be delivering and when
  • "We will deliver 10 headline options by 3PM on Tuesday."
• The next steps for a project and when they need to be completed
  • "We need feedback on the 10 headline options by end of day Thursday."

The second step of managing expectations is immediately communicating when things change. The formula for change expectation setting is: Why + Now What + New When. The "Why" is important because it helps someone understand the change and it also allows for learning for the future and preventing the delay from happening again.

• Why a deliverable has changed, what will now be delivered, and when
  • "The lead copywriter is sick today so we will now be delivering 5 headline options, instead of 10, by 3PM on Tuesday."
• Why a task was unable to begin, when it will now begin, and how it affects the final launch date
  • "We did not receive the server credentials until end of day Monday so we were unable to begin development until today. Because of the delay, the launch date will move by 2 business days. Our new launch date is Thursday, March 26th."

A note belaboring the point about personal responsibility. I am a producer so part of my job description has always explicitly been to manage expectations. However, I firmly and strongly and emphatically (and all of the other synonyms) believe that managing expectations is an equally important part of the job description for every single person in an organization. It is up to you to set the expectations about when you need something. It is up to you to be clear about what you are delivering. It is up to you to ask questions if you are unclear. It is up to you to follow-up if you have not received the thing that you need and the due date is approaching. The job function of "you" does not matter.