Five Principles for Managing Expectations

The work of a Big 4 auditor isn’t glamorous but it can often be challenging. The work is time consuming and depends on deliverables from clients or colleagues; it is not uncommon for auditors to find themselves with nothing to work on with hard deadlines approaching, just waiting for the dam to break. This means lots of work with little time, and working hard, fast, and focused is as important for the auditor as it is for the audit because the more you procrastinate the more work you take home. Unfortunately, even under these circumstances, there is no shortage of people asking you to do peripheral tasks. The most important thing I learned as a Big 4 auditor was to find a way to do as little work as possible while still being considered a top performer. Doing less was easy, but being considered a top performer was more difficult.

I’m not talking about deception; I’m talking about perception. How people perceive you, your schedule, your work, is often the most important reality. Perception is a product of expectations and results; we are constantly focused on managing results, but that is only half of the equation. If we really want to influence others’ perception, we need to manage expectations.

Managing expectations is not a new concept; but like any concept, the key to its application is breaking it down into practicable principles. In essence, everyone has expectations. When expectations are met, we are satisfied. When expectations are not met, we experience emotions ranging from disappointment to anger. When expectations are exceeded, we experience emotions ranging from contentment to elation. Being able to consistently cause these feelings in others will dictate their perception of us, and the following are some tools for doing that in various situations. As always, if you like it, put an SB on it!

Under Promise, Over Deliver

As obvious as this one is, it is crucial both before and during your employment. This is the art of lowering others’ expectations. Before employment, this principle is key to a good resume. The point of the resume is to showcase your experience in the best possible light in order to get an interview. However, the better your resume looks, the more the interviewers will expect of you during the interview. One way to manage expectations where your resume is concerned is to make your resume as impressive as it can be, and then scale it back. This way, you leave something to expound upon in the interview that goes above and beyond the expectations of the interviewer, causing feelings of satisfaction or happiness, and subconsciously helping the interviewer to root for you. Obviously this isn’t the only way to do that, but it certainly helps.

On the job, you can use this daily. When providing ETA for a deliverable, estimate how long it will take you and tell them it will take you a few more hours or days than you think it will take, and then beat that estimate.

Remember, there is no substitute for being a high performing employee, so put in work to beat even your conservative estimates. Also, one of their expectations is that you know your job well enough to estimate how long it will take, so while consistently beating your estimates is good, crushing your estimates will simply increase expectations until you have no choice but to disappoint them. You can do this not only with time, but quality and amount of work as well. Just remember, the more you increase their expectations, the more you will have to do to influence their feelings toward you in a positive way.

Communicate Issues Early

It is impossible to please everyone all the time. The sooner you can communicate issues, budget overages, delays, conflicts or anything else, the better. Time really does cure all ails; if your manager knows about a delay in the process weeks before the deadline, they will have time to prepare and will expect the complications that arise from the delay. If they expect no such complications, and they occur, they will undoubtedly have negative feelings toward you and your work.

Anticipate Work and Future Expectations

The more you can anticipate extra work, the more of it you can avoid while still meeting or exceeding expectations. The expectation is that you will do all the work you need to do, but if you can possibly take work off the plate of your superiors, you will greatly exceed their expectations. How does this help you do less work? Because the work was unanticipated, nobody will accurately know how long it will take. And while you do the unanticipated work, you can confidently say you’re too busy to work on something else that will then be passed on to someone else.

Have Good Timing

Do you want the good news or the bad news first? First of all, never say this. Wherever possible, simply avoid giving bad news with moods are high. If someone is having a great day, give them their good news to make it better, but avoid giving the bad news, as this could cause them to “shoot the messenger”. Bad news, if it can’t be delivered early, should be delivered during neutral or bad times.

Be Accountable and Never Make the Same Mistake Twice

If you do screw up, which in this life is inevitable, own up to it. The expectation is never that someone will screw up, but there is also the expectation that someone will try and defend themselves even in the wrong. If you screw up but take full accountability and work as hard as you can to fix your mistake, you will probably end up net positive on the expectation scale, and your employer will appreciate you for this. Don’t make the same mistake twice, however, because no amount of accountability will help you save face the second time.

The Lesson

These principles don’t just apply in school or work, but also in life, relationships, sports, and almost everything else. How we are perceived can influence the opportunities we have. It doesn’t matter how hard working you are, because if you are perceived as lazy, you are lazy. Regardless of how charming you think you are, if you are perceived as awkward, you aren’t getting that girl’s number.

Remember, however, that managing expectations is a little like a hedge. Where we can control the result, we can exceed expectations through hard work. But where there is uncertainty with the result, managing expectations can help us exceed expectations anyway.