Managing Expectations
When expectations are well-managed, groups deliver exceptional results. However, an expectations gap can cause too much anxiety, confusion, and ambiguity—particularly when building campaigns. Understanding the raw data is the first step in taking proactive steps to properly set and manage expectations while devising campaigns and orchestrating marketing strategies. To prevent stress, a group can collectively set goals and understand what it will take to meet key performance indicators (KPIs). Determining KPIs can take time because you will want to identify leading and lagging indicators.
Tip 1: Reality is the trap when expectations don't match the outcome. Humans are surprisingly bad at predicting what will make them happy. What are SMART goals? SMART goals are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound. Defining these parameters ensures that objectives are attainable within a specific time frame. Goals are great but must be finite and, most importantly, attainable. We often make goals to lofty or abstract. Learn and celebrate from the small wins.
Tip 2: Communication is important, but making sure that people say what they actually mean reigns supreme. Psychological safety, which helps groups believe in each other and feel secure, is the key to effective communication. The funny thing about when personalities collide in project management is that whoever is leading across teams may need to create different personas to make the project run smoothly. Think strict deadlines vs rolling benchmarks. Friendly games with rewards vs punitive results. It's more cooking than baking. There isn't a perfect recipe.
Tip 3: Emotions and expectations go together like peanut butter and jelly. People tend to avoid emotional conflicts and interpersonal situations, so they unintentionally avoid setting clear expectations. However, moving from a content-level discussion to a relationship-level discussion can mitigate emotional conflicts down the road, allowing you can take control and set clear expectations.
Our brains fill the gaps with personal anecdotes and beliefs whenever we lack the information to form a concrete understanding of an issue.
A lack of confidence and a sense of control over a situation bleeds out other negative emotions, such as apathy, anger, resentment, and disappointment.
Assume expectations are not aligned
Assume there is confusion and questions
Write expectations down
Recognize effort
Assume people have complex busy lives, offer reminders
Research basic KPIs to measure wins
Be grateful for small contributions and achievements
Check out our worksheets, which round up some general KPIs related to marketing and philanthropy. We know you will crush your goals (and, hopefully, national averages).
