PM ADVISORY:

How to Avoid Expectation Collisions

By Jeff Oltmann

Oregon, USA

Painful Lightning Bolts

Powerful stakeholders often throw painful lightning bolts at projects, seemingly out of the blue.  However, these lightning bolts are rarely as spontaneous or unpredictable as they seem.  More often they are the culmination of a series of mistakes managing the expectations of these crucial stakeholders.

Experienced project leaders deliberately manage expectations.  First, they use their emotional intelligence skills to forge key relationships, establish trust­worthiness, and build reputations as a truth tellers.  Second, they establish formal project communication systems that keep the right people informed about important project information.

Make Informal Time

Build informal relationships before you need them.  A colleague speaks dismissively of “the old boys’ club” – an insular, exclusive group of people who control access to information.  They informally steer power and perks to each other, regardless of damage to the organization and other employees.

Although old boys’ clubs are harmful, they teach an important message about the power of informal relationships on projects.  Formal communication channels such as scheduled status reports and project reviews are not sufficient.  People who lead projects must have a strong network of informal relationships with key stakeholders, allowing them to have difficult but crucial conversations at key times during a project.

Informal relationships with stakeholders are built primarily through talking.  In contrast, many project leaders rely heavily on email, written reports, and other less interactive methods of communication. Therefore, when working with key stakeholders, persistently seek out informal face-to-face and phone conversations.  These conversations build relationships much better than more formal and written methods.

Don’t dismiss this as politicking or cozying up to the old boys’ club.   Deliberately set aside time in your busy schedule to talk informally with people.  James T. Brown, an experienced NASA program manager, observes “Unfortunately, relationship building is something that novice or technically focused program managers often overlook.  They are so focused on the tangible deliverables of the project that they discount the importance of relationship building.”  (Brown, The Handbook of Program Management, p. 65-66) 

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About the Author Jeff Oltmann, PMP Author Jeff Oltmann is principal consultant at Synergy Professional Services, LLC in Portland, Oregon (www.spspro.com).  He is also on the graduate faculty of the Division of Management at Oregon Health and Science University.  His specialties include strategy deployment, operational excellence, and project portfolio management.  Jeff is a seasoned leader with over 20 years of experience managing successful technology programs.  He ran the Program Management Office (PMO) and a $60M project portfolio for IBM’s xSeries development facility in Oregon.  Jeff’s hands-on program management experience includes program budgets over $100M and worldwide cross-functional teams of over 100 members.  Jeff welcomes your questions and ideas.  You can contact him at jeff@spspro.com or read previous articles at www.spspro.com/resources.htm.