Do you understand other people’s expectations?
In this tip for handling rapid change, Praesta coach Dr. Peter Shaw suggests practical ways to get everyone on the same page.
UNDERSTANDING THE EXPECTATIONS OF others is key to focusing your contribution in the most targeted and effective way. It may include reconciling the different expectations of key interests.
The idea
You will have your own presumptions about what is a good-quality outcome, but crucial to progress will be understanding the expectations of different interested parties. A key starting point is identifying the expectations of those who have initiated or are funding the project or activity. Why are they investing resources and what are the outcomes they are seeking to achieve? What are their expectations on both quality and timescale? What is the type of trade-off that is acceptable to them between quality and timescale?
The expectations may be obvious because they are articulated clearly in a specification or project document. But sometimes expectations can be assumed rather than specified: therein can lie the seeds of misunderstanding and wasted effort. When you think expectations are unclear, it must be right to press those who are providing finance and personnel resources to be more specific about expectations.
There may be a wide range of people with an interest who have expectations. You may recognise that these wider expectations will only be partially met. It is worth seeking to understand how strongly those expectations are felt and how they might be partially recognised rather than just ignored.
It is worth checking periodically that the expectations of key parties have not changed. They might have evolved because of wider circumstances without the changed expectations being fully communicated in an explicit way. It is worth checking from time to time that you have not been inadvertently left behind.
Alex had been asked to take on the lead of managing the transition of the two departments. Alex recognised that she needed to understand what were the expectations of the hospital senior management. There was a clear financial rationale for the merger that was likely to be readily accepted, but she sensed there would be a wide range of different expectations about how the merger would be accomplished and what the ultimate benefits would be.
Alex knew she had to invest time understanding the hopes and fears of different interest groups so that she could build up a clear picture about the pattern of expectations in the different affected groups. She recognised that she would need to bring people from different areas together in order to build a shared understanding about expectations, addressing both the ultimate outcomes and the transitional arrangements.
In practice
- Be clear about the expectations of the leaders who have decided on the change that is required.
- Push back if needed to get greater clarity on the expectations in terms of outcomes, quality and timescales.
- When you think the expectations are unrealistic, be willing to press for greater realism or more resources.
- Be willing to get key people in the room together to reach a greater mutual understanding about expectations.
