Managing Expectations

Posted by on March 29, 2011

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With any project, task or event that you are assigned to accomplish/execute the most important key to success I have found is to manage expectations. It may seem trite to write such, but I believe it is critically important.

While defining the scope of a project is a critical success factor for the effective execution of a project, amazingly it is often ignored or dismissed as unimportant. Too often a top executive will tell you to “just get at it” or “what are you waiting for?” if you are taking the time to define the scope of a project. Simply put I define scope as what will be done and (as importantly) what will not be done. Take the time and present the scope to your project sponsor (the person who signs the checks) no matter the pressure. Your sponsor will appreciate a well thought out plan as will your development team.

Fortunately for the Flaman website development project (now turned program) I did not encounter this pressure. That being said, I still defined the scope so that expectations of what was to be done and what was not to be done was blindingly clear to all, including the development team.

You have told everyone what will be done and what will not be done so now what?

Now execute with excellence, pour your best effort in to exceed expectations for the first project milestone. You need to come out of the gate hard and get an overwhelming victory. Then you will be given slack by all. This is especially true if you are new to the organization or it is a new client or this is your first major project. You have set the expectations it is now your time to lead the team. Leaders lead, and as George Bush Senior quipped “Nobody said it was going to be easy, and Nobody was right!” Have fun!

Steve Whittington is President of Roadmap Agency Inc. He has also served for over a decade as a member of the Executive Team of Flaman Group of Companies an award-winning organization and has over 25 years of executive experience. Steve’s current board work includes serving as; President of Glenora Child Care Society; and Co-Chair of the Marketing Program Advisory Committee for NAIT’s JR Shaw School of Business. Previous notable board work included, Chair of the board for Flaman Fitness Canada, a national retailer, a Director for a meal prep internet Startup Mealife and Chair of Lethbridge Housing authority, the third-largest Social housing NGO in Alberta.

Academically, Steve was an instructor of Project Management at Lethbridge College for seven years. Steve holds a Bachelor of Commerce Honours degree; he is a Certified Sales Professional (CSP), Project Management Professional (PMP), Certified Marketing Specialist (CMS) and (CCXP) Certified Customer Experience Professional.

Steve’s first book Thriving in the Customer Age – 8 Key Metrics to Transform your Business Results teaches about the customer journey and provides a guiding framework spanning all stages of the customer experience. The book explains how every metric impacts an organization and how leaders can best utilize each metric to provide a stellar customer experience. Everyone knows the customer is the most important part of a business. This book provides the tools to improve an organization’s customer experience and drastically transform business results.

Recently Steve’s Blog has been profiled as one of the Top 75 Customer Experience blogs

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