Manage expectations with IT consulting clients

Takeaway: Most veteran IT consultants have war stories about failed expectations. Chip Camden offers pointers on how you can appropriately manage expectations with your clients.

The IT consulting path can be a bumpy one. The very things that make it interesting, such as the variety of clients and projects, can also result in sudden surprises. I like some surprises, like “Happy Birthday!” or “You’ve won a million dollars!” but I’m not as fond of surprises like “That isn’t what we wanted” or “We haven’t paid you.”

Ninety-nine times out of a hundred, unpleasant surprises result from failing to manage expectations. Either the consultant was blissfully unaware of something the client expected of them, or the consultant expected something from the client but failed to make that clear. Here are pointers on appropriately managing expectations with your client.

Communicate. The number one cause for failed expectations is never expressing them. Don’t assume that just because a given practice is customary in the industry, your client will automatically follow it. Plainly state your rules of engagement — payment terms, scheduling expectations, requirements gathering, feedback, etc. Conversely, your client may be incorrectly assuming that you understand what they expect from you, so make sure that you know their expectations by regularly asking appropriate questions. Solicit a constant feedback loop.

Prioritize. In business, some expectations are crucial, while others are “nice to have.” Make sure that you and your client understand which are which. Of course you’ll try to provide everything they want, but if push comes to shove, you might have to drop something or at least delay it. When you have an agreement with your client about that contingency, nobody gets shocked by the outcome.

Document. You just had a great phone conversation with your client — you nailed down all the key plans for the project, and you’re certain that you and the client are on the same page. Before you jump into development, though, write it all down. Send an email detailing all the points you agreed on. Likewise, any terms that you expect from your client need to be in writing. Verbal agreements may be legally binding, but proving that the agreement ever existed is another matter.

Follow up. Just because you communicated and documented the expectations on both sides, never assume that it’s a done deal. Revisit expectations on a regular basis and make revisions where necessary. Verify that expectations are being met on both sides. If not, immediately work with your client to get back on track. Even the smallest disappointment needs to be acknowledged and dealt with — otherwise it can grow into a bigger problem.

Give and take. Nobody is perfect. We all overcommit sometimes. Unforeseen circumstances occasionally prevent fulfillment of our obligations. So after identifying a failure to meet expectations, you should make a new plan with more realistic goals, or stick to the same plan after acknowledging an unavoidable exception. Just don’t let failure become the norm.

Insist on respect. When someone fails to meet our expectations, a large part of our disappointment comes from the perception that they didn’t care about what was important to us. If you’ve ever had a client pay late without ever saying a word, you can relate to that feeling of disappointment. Furthermore, when one party tries to lower expectations, it can feel like a slap in the face, depending on how it’s presented. In order to effectively manage expectations, you must start and end with respect. Start by identifying what’s really important to your client and to you, and then work together to see how much of that you can achieve together. When addressing a failure, it helps to start by reiterating why the expectation was important to you — that will often suggest a remedy.

Share your war stories about failed expectations and what you did about them.