How to: Manage Expectations

What are expectations?

Expectations are how we expect things to be and what will happen. Expectations are not right or wrong. Who we are, our upbringing and our experiences, all influence our expectations.

Why it is important to manage expectations?

Performance and satisfaction are connected to managing expectations. When you don’t explore and agree on expectations, important outcomes (such as job performance, organisational commitment, and job satisfaction) are at risk.

A person’s expectations are not always clear. People are satisfied (or dissatisfied) by whether events meet their expectations. If you do not know and address an expectation, you will be held to a standard that you did not know about. If you do not manage expectations your staff, and unit may underperform in people’s expectations even though you meet other stated standards.

As a manager it is important to ensure that everyone:

1. Expectation: understands and has compatible expectations
2. Perception: can see the goal being met
3. Reality: delivers on the expected outcomes

EXAMPLE: If staff are telling you the “Rosters are unfair” consider asking:

• Expectation: What do people think makes a roster fair? Do you all agree (or at least know each other’s expectation)?
• Perception: Does everyone know how much, or little, work goes into making a workable roster? Can people see their expectations being met or not?
• Reality: Does everyone understand what is allowed and not permitted in a roster? Is this understanding correct or is it just “the way things are done”? Should I consult a rostering expert? What flexibility really exists?

What does this look like?

Managers who successfully manage expectations:

• Engage stakeholders to uncover hidden expectations
• Negotiate fair and realistic expectations
• Revise and adjust expectations based on new information
• Regularly communicate expectations and progress to stakeholders
• Constantly review performance
• Seeks feedback on performance

How can I do this?

1.    The leader must know their own expectations

A leader must be crystal clear in their own mind about what they expect. What is the minimum acceptable standard of performance you will accept? What are the behaviours and actions that exceed expectations? Questions such as these seem simple, but it’s more difficult to answer these questions than it may first appear.

What are your expectations tasks? Where do you start? The key is to break it down into parts (e.g. for a meeting that is, agenda, venue, minutes etc). The leader can then consider their expectations for each individual activity. For the agenda, the standard expected could be to maximise audience participation and to foster collaboration.

2.    Clearly communicate expectations

Communicate your standard to the team. One of the most effective ways is by illustrating it with a critical incident. This puts the expectation into context. Here’s what a leader might say to the organiser of the meeting:

“I want this meeting to be totally participatory; I want everyone in the room to feel they have an opportunity to contribute. This would be achieved in my opinion if most of the discussion is originated from the attendees, and not the meeting chair.”

3.    Seek understanding and acceptance of the expectations

Make sure everyone understands and accepts the expectation. Ask two questions:

• “Are you clear on what I expect?” You need to wait until the other person responds and shows they understand.
• ” Is it fair and reasonable to expect this?” Wait for the other person to agree.

If you do not get agreement to the above two questions you need to explore this with the person. You can do this by asking probing questions such as “What isn’t clear?” or “Why doesn’t it seem fair and reasonable?”.

4.    Gain commitment

Ensure you have a sense of commitment. Don’t assume the other person is committed to achieving the outcome. People become surprised and disappointed when their expectations are not met.

If there’s no commitment, it’s very likely that the task will either not get done or get done in a sub-standard way. Gaining commitment simply means asking for assurance. A simple, powerful question to ask is “Can I get your commitment to achieve this the way we’ve discussed it?”. Again, wait for agreement before moving on. Often, with this affirmation, the other person will follow through; they don’t want to let a person down. If a person assumes, they have the other person’s commitment, they can be surprised and disappointed later to discover this was missing and performance is lacking.

5.    Right supportive environment

A “supportive environment” could mean the authority to make decisions, the right skills for the task, access to information and resources to help, a realistic time-frame, links to people that can help get the job done, or many other considerations. If the timeframe is unrealistic, for example, then it will impact on standards and weaken the commitment to carry out the job. This – and other – support measures need discussing.

6.    Make No Assumptions

There is a natural tendency to not talk about expectations. Your first step to manage expectations is to be aware that they are important but rarely addressed. Take the first step and talk about them. You may even write them down and make them available beyond your discussion.

In the absence of clear guidance, it is your job to clarify. Make sure you get context. Don’t assume someone has the same understanding of a situation, project, deadline, or task that you do. Have a conversation and openly discuss what’s expected, how it might be accomplished, and how success will be measured. Leave opportunities for questions. This is also the time to agree and commit to what will be delivered and when. When something is going to be completed is one of the most common points of miscommunication.

7.    Communicate, Communicate, Communicate

Frequently communicate with everyone. In the early stages you may want to even over-communicate.

By holding frequent check-ins, you also have the chance to provide real-time updates and manage any delays, risks, blocks, or variations. When you’re proactively honest and transparent in your communication, you have room to put a backup in place, if needed, or the flexibility of making new decisions as you move toward the finish line. Being honest about a delay is better than promising to deliver and missing your deadline.

You need to make sure that expectations are clear to everybody. You also need to make sure everyone understands when circumstances change, and expectations need to be adjusted.

Make expectations available for people that where not directly involved in the discussion. Document agree expectations. You should repeat the most important expectations on a regular basis.

8.    Be realistic

You must be comfortable that the expectations are realistic and achievable. If they’re not, you should push back. Make sure you balance the organisation’s needs and the team’s abilities. Be open about what can be delivered and what the plan is. This instils confidence. It is much better to tell a person that you cannot deliver their expectation rather than to fail to deliver on their expectation. Don’t just accept expectations and standards that set you and your team up to fail.

9.    Keep up to date

Think of who you need to talk about expectations on a regular basis.

Stakeholders don’t remain the same. They change over time. As those people change, expectations might change as well.

The health sector is large, complex, and changing. Make sure you revisit expectations when things change to make sure they are still realistic.

You may find this challenging if you…

• Don’t like question stakeholders
• Can’t say “no”
• Don’t want to disappoint
• Overestimate the ability or capacity of your team, your unit or yourself.
• Believe the customer is always right
• Unable to explain what is realistic and achievable
• Believe people must meet targets and objectives irrespective of the personal cost

You may not be managing expectations effectively if you are…

• Trying to please everyone
• Setting standards and expectations too low
• Worried about people not liking you
• Trying to “under promise and over deliver”
• Having to regularly lower or raise your expectations
• Constantly having to justify your expectations