Expectation management is a great place to start. It is a great place to start when meeting a new friend, it is a great place to start when you enter a new job, it is a great place to start when offering marketing projects or launching a new campaign and even when starting to write a new blog.
The key to expectation management is to balance the act of under promising and over delivering. How low can you go? How well do you know yourself? How much do you trust your abilities? How well do you know your audience? If you set the bar too low will you lose what you intended to gain before you start? If you set the bar too high have you opened yourself up for failure?
As a first leap into the great unknown I launch this blog today with the hopes to use these words and this space to share my insights on daily encounters anything from my experience today at lunch (went to small CzechMex joint that serves the nicest portion of chicken steak with a white cream pepper sauce, though can't recommend much else) to my insights into event management/direct contact marketing and its usefulness in growing a business or building a brand or even my opinions on latest news, world events and whats its like to be 30 something.
I expect an active audience. I expect feedback on my posts, both good and bad. I expect to further discuss topics where I have simply planted a seed. I expect that you will write to me with questions and ideas of topics you would like me to talk about - most subjects will be within limits - though please keep it G rated and relevant.
I do not think that everything I say will please all people all of the time. Tom Peters once said "If no one is pissed-off with you then you are dead but just haven't figured it out yet."
Question: Do you find it to be effective to under promise over deliver? How do you manage others expectations?
Absolutely, very effective. And since my job is a lot about teaching my clients to manage expectations, including their own, this is rarely a problem :). I realize I am privileged in this. Am really curious about your next posts, Andy!
ReplyDelete"G" rated lol
ReplyDeleteMark, thanks for getting me thinking. It's tough to be balanced in today's market. I find it nerve wracking to try to make a business forecast but I'm expected to detail what the business is likely to do over the coming years. It's a damn if you do, damned if you don't situation. I look forward to more here! I'm sure it will all be very useful.
ReplyDeletestop replying to your own posts Mark :) hehe
ReplyDeleteHey Mark! Great Idea! I love it when my friends have blogs. It's a wonderful interactive format for thought sharing.
ReplyDelete"Under promise - over deliver". It's pretty much expected these days. Although, I think we are coming closer to the equilibrium of promising and delivering what we promised. I personally don't think you need to OVER-the-top deliver, just so long as what you promise is excellent/excellence and you deliver just that.
But just thinking about this reminds me of something my uncle explained to me long ago. H=R-E. Happiness equals Results minus Expectations. This could be something we discuss in your blog.
Anyhow, just wanted to chime in.
Love you!