Elvis Montero

Managing expectations

According to Information Technology Project Management - Providing Measurable Organizational Value, by author Jack T. Marchewka, one of the many factors impairing IT projects is unrealistic expectations. I absolutely agree with this proposition. A project manager must be particularly adept at aligning customers’ anticipation with a realistic prospect of the final product (emphasis on the word realistic). One sure way to torpedo any project is to let customers’ conception of the final deliverable run wild. The golden under-promise and over-deliver rule should become your mantra.

A friend of mine shared his personal experience with me 5 minutes ago. He was royally upset because he had been working for 2 weeks nonstop (including weekends) just because his manager pitched a small project as the greatest thing since individually-wrapped cheese. I asked the only logical thing I could think of: What is your work environment like? Can you please describe it? This is his response:

Software developers usually find themselves “fixing” a recently-deployed product because our managers tend to compete for approval from the powers that be. Thus, our supervisors have developed an uncanny propensity to promise more than we can actually accomplish within reasonable time frames. If Marketing (a.k.a the big customer) finds a given proposal attractive and economically feasible, they immediately allocate resources and announce the arrival of the latest “marvel” to potential buyers way in advance. Add this up to unbelievably short deadlines and you’re left with a perfect recipe for budget overruns, delays and general discontent. Consequently, our releases are never truly completed.

Horace, roman lyric poet, put it better: life is largely a matter of expectation. Whenever possible, keep your customers with a low one. Do not oversell. Chances are they will praise the final product even if it ends up having its “natural” flaws.

The following Dilbert strip quickly sprang to mind:

Source: Dilbert.com