Expectations pros and cons…In People/Team Management – Doing it right the first time.

 Expectation is a strong sense of belief that something will happen for sure. It is bound to happen between two people associated for a while. It is a formal occurrence at work and tends to be a more casual thing in personal relationships. Irrespective of whether it is at work or in personal life, it can at times catch us off guard. It can at times be difficult to manage.

Expectations of a person towards us don’t happen overnight. It is built overtime. The reason expectations of a person towards us grow is primarily because of our own self. The factors that depend are our attitude, capability, experience, how important the other person is to us etc.

Expectations are sort of an undiscussed pact between two people and come with their own pros and cons. Pros indicate trust, confidence and hope the other people have in us.

The entire problem is when expectations are not managed properly and start showing the cons. It could be various reasons that we let people build expectations on us. A few examples are that we let people depend on us more than required, at times we allow people to take us for granted, and the way we act differently with two different people in the same situation. We may act so because of some exceptions, but it is not perceived so by the other person. The other person will mostly form the opinion that we are acting indifferently.

A few pointers to manage the expectations in a right way from the beginning are as follows:

• Open and honest conversations: This is the most important aspect needed that we be open and honest in our conversations with people. It is always better to undersell and deliver better than to oversell and fail.

• Explaining the exceptions clearly: Whenever we go out of the way and do something for someone, it should be explained clearly as it is a one-time event. Similarly, clarity in communicating what we can do, we will do, and what we will never do is critical.

• Acting differently with two different people for the same situation: First of all, we need to question ourselves why are we choosing to do it? Is there a good reason for doing so? If the reason is a good enough one, communicate it clearly to the person in question.

In worst case scenarios, expectations gone wrong will create havoc and destroy relationships if not acted in time. Managing expectations is a delicate process and will need care. Similarly, when you have an expectation from the other person too the above-mentioned points must be kept in mind. Knowledge and experience of these aspects will help us avoid facing unreasonable expectations for ourselves and have reasonable expectations with others. Positive expectations create thriving and long-lasting relationships. I wish my readers more such rewarding experiences in their life.

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