Something I’ve learned and relearned, and lately it has been drilled into my head, is that, as business partner to IT, when I am giving my vision for a project, I need to only be concerned with what I want to happen, not how it will get done. This is hard for me because I like the IT part of our company as well and I love to know how things work. But truly we need to leave the work of figuring out how things get done to those who have degrees and advanced understanding of how the technology should be implemented.

But this isn’t all. Once you have the the vision and you give a brain dump, and everyone can see what you are thinking, you have to write it down. If it’s not written down it didn’t happen. You have your vision, you collaborate with your team and then you write down, from your perspective, what you want to happen.

This document is not meant to be the end all but it should be in a place where everyone can reference it at any time and where everyone will be able to contribute and make the document better. This is when true collaboration happens. Give it a try, I know I am going to be better at it.

It seems the buzz of “Setting Expectations” has left a huge void in the business world. Let’s see if you have been down this road.

Step #1
You start a project, you gather requirements from all of the stakeholders involved and make a project plan with deliverables and hard dates. The reason for doing all of this is so that the stakeholders in the project know exactly what is going to happen and when. It gives them confidence that their project is in capable hands and the things they asked for are going to be delivered. Best of all, they know exactly when to expect. This, in short, is called Setting Expectations.

Step #2
Once the project starts, the dates you have given them have to be met. If you’re in danger of not hitting a date you need to go back to the stakeholders, let them know that there was some sort of a hiccup in the project and give them a revised project plan. This is called Resetting Expectations.

Step #3
You’re moving right along, the project is going just fine and BAM, someone gets sick, someone deletes a file or someone loses something that sets you back. Another hiccup in the process. Repeat Step #2 and move on to Step #4.

Step #4
By this time you have gone back to the stakeholders twice and reset their expectations. Now when you see them in the hall they give you a polite, “Hello”, but you know they’re really thinking, “When’s the next time you’re gonna screw up my project?”

Step #5
By now you are more determined than ever to get through this project and deliver it on time. Everyone puts in long hours, does an incredible job completing their tasks and you finally pull through, the project is done. When you deliver the final product the enthusiasm is there for a moment but afterwards it’s business as usual. No big announcement, nothing from the stakeholders to congratulate the team for a job well done. Nothing. The project is just over and it is on to the next one.

This is pretty typical. Deadlines are adjusted to accommodate for major flaws found in testing or resources get pulled from your project to be put on other higher priorities. There really is nothing wrong with this because if the project you were working on was the highest priority then nothing would get in your way and there would be no resetting expectations.

The one thing that is forgotten in the entire process is managing perceptions. Every time you go back to the stakeholders and tell them the project that was supposed to be done on the date you originally set is now being pushed back, they have to go to their bosses and tell them that the project is being pushed back. No one likes to tell their boss that the project they were given and said would be done is going to be late. It makes the stakeholders look bad and they in turn blame you for not doing your job correctly.

Their perception of you is changing. You started out as the hero who swooped in and had this project under control. There was a light at the end of the tunnel but it grows dimmer as you keep resetting expectations. Their perception of you changes from hero to villain. You are the guy that is making them look bad in front of their bosses. That perception of you can change back to hero status but you have do an exceptionally good job on the next project, if that ever comes around.

Conclusion
Perception IS reality, whether we like it or not. If we are perceived to be someone who doesn’t have their act together, even if it was because of one little mix up, that’s who you are. The secrets to managing perceptions are:

1. Don’t jump on a project too fast – Make sure you can handle it. Make sure you know everything that is involved in the project from start to finish and that you have all of the resources you need to complete the project on time.
2. Over Communicate – No matter how annoying you think you’re being, keep everyone in the loop all of the time. They will feel like part of the project, they will know what is going on and they will understand when something happens. They might even give you more time without even having to ask for it.

Remember, begin by setting expectations but throughout the entire process manage perceptions.