If you are going to attempt to influence something, you first need to know what makes up that “something.” For expectations, there is one key concept and four critical components that need to be understood for effective management.
Balancing Reality and Perception
The key concept is that expectations are shaped by both reality and perception. In an ideal project, both the reality and perception of project objectives, performance, targeted results, and expected impact are aligned upfront among all stakeholders during project definition and planning, and then remain this way throughout the project. However, this ideal situation is elusive. Even when expectations are aligned during planning, there are many influences and factors that can alter expectations during the course of the project. This relationship is depicted in Figure 18.1.
As a project manager, your challenge is to guide the actual “real” performance of the project while simultaneously aligning and balancing the perception of each stakeholder. This work is a dynamic, ongoing venture that is only complete when the project is closed.
Not Just Scope Management
There is more to managing expectations than just managing scope. Now, don’t get me wrong; managing scope is a very important part of managing expectations, but it’s not everything. There are four critical components of expectations. Each expectation element is important to the success of the project and is subject to the natural push and pull between project reality and stakeholder perceptions. This relationship is portrayed in Figure 18.2.
Let’s review each expectation component in greater detail, explain the specific elements included in each group, and discuss some of the tools and techniques that you can use to help manage each part.
- Critical Success Factors—This aspect includes the traditional measuring rods of scope, schedule, and budget. In addition, it includes any additional acceptance criteria that you established with your key stakeholders during project definition and planning. The heart of project management (and nearly this entire) is focused on managing expectations around these elements, but the key tools are a solid project definition document, a realistic schedule, a baseline budget, early detection of performance variances, and disciplined change control.
- Project Impact—This component highlights the change impact of the project output (results, solution, and work products). It accounts for any work, process, or organizational change experienced by any stakeholder as a result of the project outcome. This aspect is commonly neglected by less-experienced organizations and project managers. As Dr. Stephen Covey (a world-famous personal development coach and author of The 7 Habits series) always says, the key here is to think (and plan) with the end in mind. With this clarity, you can better communicate a common vision of the project outcome and help stakeholders prepare for the changes that will affect them.
NoteThe expectation component classifications are academic in nature and are there to serve discussion and review. Many expectation elements could be placed in more than one of these categories.A common mistake made in expectations management is to sell or commit to requirements that cannot be met given the project constraints. This is often done in efforts to get business, make the customer happy, or instill confidence in the team’s abilities. The “under-promise, over-deliver” principle is one that reminds us that it is much better with regard to expectations management to promise less and deliver more. - Work Products—This category covers things such as “that’s not what I asked for,” “that’s not what I meant,” and “oh no, you gave me exactly what I asked for.” This could be considered a part of project scope, but depending on the level of detail in your scope statement, it might not be adequately addressed. This category deals with the detailed expectations surrounding the individual work products that each stakeholder has. At a minimum, it focuses on requirements management, quality management, and overall project approach. We discuss key requirements management techniques that greatly improve your effectiveness here.
- Project Execution—This final component deals with the day-to-day execution of the project. Although not as critical as the other aspects, a lack of attention to these elements will certainly create situations that can easily lead to underperforming projects, and then to major expectations management activities. This category deals with the efficiency and effectiveness of the project team, and with the confidence the stakeholders have in them to successfully deliver the targeted solution and in you to lead them there. Common elements in this group include interactions between team and client stakeholders, and clarity of roles, responsibilities, work processes, and work assignments.
We review many of these elements in greater detail in “Keys to Better Project Team Performance.” In addition, many of the communication and leadership techniques “Leading a Project,” and “Managing Project Communications,” come into play here. Important principles to remember here: Make sure team members are prepared for their interactions with stakeholders; do not assume stakeholders have a clear understanding of project processes and their work assignments; always look at the project from their perspective; and proactively review (with a gentle touch) key tasks and targeted completion dates.
Although we have broken down expectations into various components, which are summarized in Table 18.1, it’s important to remember that effective expectations management is not complicated. The success formula for each aspect of expectations management is relatively straightforward:
- Get real—Set realistic expectations; get initial agreement (buy-in) from affected stakeholders; review assumptions and constraints; talk about it; address it; get clarity and understanding.
- Keep it balanced—Manage changes; align project reality with stakeholder perceptions; proactively communicate; educate; constantly validate and affirm perceptions; regularly assess performance; reset expectations as needed.
- Follow through—Deliver; honor the agreements; get the work done; “under-promise, over-deliver.” NoteMost of the principles depend greatly on the effectiveness of your communication and interpersonal skills. Your ability to manage the perceptions of each individual associated with the project is the key to managing expectations. NoteThe main factor affecting the nature of kickoff meetings is, “Where are you in the planning process?” If detailed planning is complete, the kickoff meeting is more of an informational session. If not, the kickoff meeting can be used as a detail planning workshop.
TipUtilize mini-kickoff meetings at the beginning of each project phase, not just the start of the entire project, to reset expectations.Note that agile approaches have this concept built in through regular planning and review sessions for each sprint or increment.
TABLE 18.1 Summary of Critical Expectation Components
| Expectation Area | Elements | Key Tools and Techniques | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Critical Success Factors | Scope statementProject budgetTarget datesPerformance versus cost versus timeAcceptance criteriaAgreement on what defines success | Project definition documentProject planChange controlPerformance reportingRealistic scheduleKickoff meetingsMilestone reviews | Be proactiveNo surprisesEnsure right people are informed of changesForecast missed deadlines |
| Project Impact | ROIKey Performance Indicators (KPIs)Individual work task changesBusiness process flow changesOrganizational change impact | Acceptance criteriaStakeholder analysisPrototypes, simulationsFuture workflow modelsPilotsPhased implementations | Often neglectedMay need separate deployment projectOrganizational change management plan needed |
| Work Products | RequirementsDeliverablesInterim deliverables | Requirements managementQuality managementIterative developmentPrototypes, scenarios, and simulationsPilot implementationsProduct reviews and sign-offs | Get something tangible earlyHeavy customer involvementUse internal team QA reviews |
| Project Execution | Decision-making processRoles and responsibilitiesWork assignmentsProject processesCommon goalsPersonal credibilityAvoids issuesTeam interactions with stakeholdersLeadership confidence | Responsibility matrixRealistic scheduleResource planTeam charterKickoff meetingsWalkthrough schedule, processesCoaching team membersInternal reviews | Take other perspectiveDon’t assume understanding or clarityBe aware of busy team membersUse gentle touch to proactively remind team of key tasks, responsibilities, and datesAlways set context to improve understandingEducate along the way |
Tip
Understanding the process flow helps you identify stakeholders, scope boundaries, change impact issues, and better requirements.
Educate Your Stakeholders
Appropriate stakeholders should be educated on the following points at a minimum:
- Requirements serve as the primary target for the project and as the foundation for detailed project planning.
- Walk stakeholders through the various techniques and methods to be employed in the requirements definition process.
- If using an agile approach, educate stakeholders on the process for capturing and managing requirements in this environment and how it is different from a traditional waterfall methodology approach.
- Changes to requirements affect cost and schedule, and they cost more the later in the project they are made.
- Requirements can serve as provisions in the contract.
Caution
Expectations that cannot be quantified should be identified as project risks. Make sure your project assumptions are consistent with your final requirements.
Tip
Translate performance and quality expectations into tangible, documented requirements.
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