Insights on Excellence | "Insights on Excellence" Archive

If things aren't going as they should, try defining your expectations

by Stephen Hawley Martin
for Virginia Business
Oct. 17, 2006

Expectation. It's not a hard word to define. Simply put, it means an anticipated, desired outcome.

But if it's so easy to define, why is it sometimes so hard to deliver on expectations?

Expectations are hard to meet, and efforts are most likely to fall short when those expectations are often not clearly described, communicated and agreed upon.

Expectations are often bred from assumptions. And every person carries a different set of assumptions, built on his or her life experiences. When people expect something, they have a mental image of they want - a desired outcome based on these assumptions. When people don't have the same ideas of the expected outcomes, and they have not been clearly defined, communicated and agreed upon, conflict often results.

If you said to someone, "Draw me a picture of a dog," almost certainly the picture drawn won't be of the dog that you had in mind. Your dog may have been a French poodle, but his was a Dalmatian. Both are dogs, but his doesn't meet your expectations.

At work, if you want your expectations to be met, you must define and communicate them explicitly - you can't rely on assumptions. And the best way to define them is in concrete terms. For example, what does "as soon as possible" mean to you? To you, it might mean by the end of the day. To Joe Couch Potato, it may mean by the end of the week. That's why you'd better make sure you and Mr. Potato understand and have the same expectation for when the job needs to be done.

When expectations are defined in definite terms, it's difficult to misinterpret them, and the opportunity for conflict diminishes. The result is you're much less likely to be disappointed.

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Stephen Hawley Martin is a former principal of The Martin Agency in Richmond and the author of more than half a dozen books including his newest, Lean Enterprise Leader: How to Get Things Done Without Doing It All Yourself. He is editor and publisher of The Oaklea Press, a book publishing business dedicated primarily to helping business executives increase productivity.