5 Ways to Manage Stakeholder Expectations

Your friend just told you about the most amazing, best, phenomenal movie they’ve ever seen. It had everything–action, comedy, romance, intrigue, special effects–it was the movie for all moviegoers! Your friend couldn’t stop talking about it for weeks, and was adamant that you HAD to see it for yourself.

Well, you finally went, and it was terrible! The plot was okay, the acting was marginal, and the special effects were mediocre. What happened here? Did you even see the same film your friend did? This is a classic case of misalignment of expectations. The expectations your friend had set in your mind were not realistic. They had been set so high there was no way this movie could deliver. 

Misalignment of expectations may be okay for a movie where you just waste a bit of time and a few dollars, and walk away with the bottoms of your shoes being sticky. But, it’s not okay when it comes to managing a project. The good news is that, as a project manager, you can properly set expectations that will cause everyone to view your project as the next great blockbuster! 

How? Follow these five principles to properly set expectations on your next project. 

Make Sure Everyone Understands the Big Picture 

The first thing you need to do as a project kicks off is get everyone together and make sure they understand the big picture. This includes covering topics such as why the project was approved, what it’s expected to accomplish, how long it’s going to take, how much it will cost, what the ROI will be, etc. This is also a good time to clarify how frequently updates will be provided and how, and where people can go if they have any questions. This is an opportunity to get everyone on the same page, and set their expectations for what the final result of this project is supposed to be. 

Treat Different People Differently 

Wait, what? Treat people differently? Yep, you heard that right. Once you’ve set everyone’s expectations around what the big picture is going to look like, it’ll be your job to continually manage the expectations of each audience differently. For example, when a change needs to be communicated to the project team, a daily stand-up meeting with nothing more than a verbal sentence or two might be necessary. Or, there may be a major problem with the project that needs to be communicated to executives, which requires a well-thought-out presentation with 4-5 slides that includes the problem, impact, and recommended solutions. Manage stakeholder expectations based on what they need in order to stay in tune with the project. 

Ensure That EVERYONE Knows a Change Occurred 

Project scope creep is something that bites most project managers early on in their career. A stakeholder requests a small change to be made to the project, for whatever reason that is important to them. It doesn’t seem like a big deal to the project manager to accommodate this change, so they just slip it into the project plan. Unbeknownst to the project manager, the downstream impact of this change will break other systems! Set EVERYONE’S expectations to anticipate a forthcoming change with correct approvals and documentation, a mechanism to communicate out changes, and a change log everyone can reference to see how the project has evolved. Why? Because the expectation set at the kick-off meeting of the final project is now different. 

Be Incredibly Accurate in Your Updates 

There are two extremes when it comes to providing regular project updates. One is taking the Pollyanna approach. Pollyanna is the fictional character of a classic book by the same name that is overly and unrealistically optimistic. Project managers can sometimes fall into this trap. They think, ‘Yes, the team is behind, but the team PROMISED they’ll catch up next week so I’ll keep the status green on this week’s report.’ Guess what? They don’t catch up next week and now you have a misalignment of expectations. 

The other extreme is the Chicken Little approach. Chicken Little ran around saying the sky was falling so many times that the townspeople quit listening to him. Then, when the sky was actually falling, nobody paid any heed and disaster ensued! Project managers can succumb to this thinking as well. Overstating the doom and gloom of a project and making everything red (when it’s not) will soon be met with deaf ears.  

What to do? Try the Goldilocks approach and make sure your status updates are “just right”.  Ensure your updates are 100% accurate to properly set people’s expectations.  

Deliver Bad Immediately… Sooner if Possible 

Nobody likes bad news. That’s why it’s called bad news. There are so many cliches that prove that point: “Bad news is like fish, the older it gets, the worse it smells” or, “Bad news isn’t wine. It doesn’t improve with age.” But, have you thought about why it’s so important to deliver bad news early? 

Because it’s easier to wrestle with a calf than a bull. 

That’s right. A problem in its infancy could be considered a calf–a “baby” problem that could be easily wrestled with and not cause a lot of damage. On the other hand, an “adult” problem that has grown to bull-like magnitude and intensity is a different story. It’s going to be nearly impossible to wrestle that problem to the ground, and you know it’s going to cause a whole lot of damage along the way!  

Take the time to immediately set people’s expectations around what has gone wrong. “Yes, this bad thing just happened (notice, it just happened), it’s going to delay the project by one month, and this is what we are doing to recover” is so much better than “We should have told you this four weeks ago, it’s going to delay the project by six months, and there’s nothing we can do about it.” 

Following these five principles to set stakeholder’s expectations ensures they walk out of the conference room thinking the project is even better than they expected. Now, if you could only say that for the movie your friend recommended! 

SOLUTIONS MADE SIMPLE SUMMARY

How to Manage Stakeholder Expectations  

Misaligned expectations can create all kinds of problems on your project, ranging from delivery dates being missed to funding being pulled. Follow the simple steps below to make sure you stay aligned with all of your stakeholders. 

1. Identify Your Stakeholders - Pull a list together of anyone that has an interest in your project. This can range from the customer to employees and contractors working on the project, to the executives who provide funding. Then, categorize these individual names into groups. You’ll probably end up with 5-7 groups. 
2. Determine How You Will Communicate with Stakeholders - Identify what is important to each stakeholder group. Come up with a communication plan for each group and then customize as needed. The plan should include what, when, and how to communicate with each group to keep their expectations aligned with the reality of the project. 
3. Follow the 5 Principles Above - Apply the principles above across all groups and all communications. This includes explaining the big picture, treating different people (roles) differently, ensuring everyone knows that a change has occurred, being incredibly accurate in updates, and delivering bad news early. 

Following the suggestions above will help your stakeholders think the movie is even better than you described! 

Definitions: 

Change Log - A record or document that tracks all the modifications or updates made to a software application, website, or project. It is a chronological record that lists the date, time, and nature of each change, including the reason for the change and the individuals responsible for implementing it. 

Chicken Little Approach - A term used to describe an overly alarmist or panic-stricken reaction to a situation or problem, especially when the situation may not be as dire as it appears.  

Pollyanna Approach - A term used to describe an overly optimistic or naive attitude toward a situation or problem, especially when the situation may be more complex or challenging than it appears. 

Stakeholder - An individual, group, or organization that has an interest or concern in an enterprise, project, or system. Stakeholders can be internal or external to the organization, and they can have varying levels of influence or importance depending on their relationship to the enterprise or project.