Let’s Get Real About Project Expectations

Warning: I might step on some toes today.

But I’m Dutch, and the Dutch are known to be straight shooters.

I’m using that as a cover for some real talk today…

In the past two weeks, I’ve been in three situations with different clients, but the underlying problem was exactly the same.

It’s a real issue within project management, and it needs to stop.

Great project management can’t fix unrealistic expectations

It always goes like this. Clients reach out to me with a tactical PM question.

“Should I use font size 13 or 14 in my plan?”

“Should I use Asana or Trello?”

“Agile or waterfall?”

I’m not an answering machine. Google does that for you, or ChatGPT.

So rather than shoot from the hip, I dig deeper. What’s behind this question? Why do you think this tactical detail will solve all your problems?

(Hint: it won’t.)

When digging deeper with each of these 3 clients, the same pattern emerged: unrealistic expectations. And it’s not the first time I’ve seen this.

In fact, I think it’s a systemic problem many project managers deal with on a daily basis.

Contrary to popular belief, project management is not the drain of your organization.

It’s not your job to just accept what you’re given, and take the punches.

Don’t get me wrong though. I’m not here to push your sales team under the bus or blame this on someone else.

Unrealistic expectations are rarely set on purpose.

There are dozens of different sources and reasons for it. But once the contract is signed and you’re assigned as PM, it’s now your problem.

So you’ll have to deal with it.

But not by taking punch after punch.

Now what?

Let’s look at two scenarios.

First: you’ve inherited something that you know is never going to happen. You need to figure out how to deal with this.

The second one: what can you do to address this systemic issue, before it becomes your problem?

Time for some real talk

When you’re assigned a project and you and your team instantly see that this won’t happen, the worst thing you can do is keep trying.

I’m not saying to abandon ambition, but you know what I mean.

Some things are just not possible.

So what do you do?

First, go through the issue with your team. They are the experts here, and you need their support before you make any moves. Involving them also creates buy-in for your new plan.

Then, call for a steering committee meeting. As always: no surprises in public, so have a 1:1 chat with your sponsor beforehand.

In the steerco, give your honest assessment of the situation and come up with options. You have 4 levers, remember? If not, check this newsletter on the 4 different elements of project success.

Make a plan with your steerco and make a counterproposal for your customer - whether that’s internal or external. Do you suggest cutting the scope? Use more time? Your call.

Now, I know that this conversation won’t be easy.

You’ve just been assigned to the project, and you’re going into one of your first meetings with bad news.

But if you don’t bite the bullet now, the problem only gets worse.

You can only meet expectations if you set realistic ones. And since meeting them is your responsibility, so is managing them.

Own the problem and show your client with data & facts that what you’re currently committed to won’t happen, and how you suggest you solve it.

Many dread these kinds of conversations because they think they’ll look like a fool. My experience is the opposite.

Your vulnerability and realism combined with proactively suggesting a solution builds trust with a client.

Project management = education

What can you do to prevent the situation we’ve just discussed?

Educating stakeholders from day 0 on what you can and cannot do is an underappreciated part of your role. Preventing these kinds of issues before they arise is a sign of true project leadership.

Get involved in the sales process. Talk to your sales team, but also to your customer as early as possible.

Make sure you have the right mix of people around the table. If your sales team is tech-savvy but the client is not, you have an issue in the making.

Make sure people speak the same language and really understand each other.

Last week’s debrief & lessons learned is a powerful tool for this conversation too. It lets you show what went wrong in the past and what you can do in the future to prevent this.

Showing always beats telling, and most colleagues will remember a project if it went south.

And last but not least: when you’ve cleaned up a situation like described above, give internal feedback and put it in your lessons learned.

Make sure that you educate the company on what you learned and how it can be prevented in the future.

Adjust the fan so sh*t can’t hit it

Everyone takes one for the team every now and then. But I’m here to say that this shouldn’t be you every time.

Here’s my challenge for you: the next time you find yourself tweaking tactics or trying for the 10th time to make something work, zoom out.

Ask yourself: am I trying to make a baby in a month by adding 8 mothers?

You know it can’t be done. Step up to the challenge, and re-set expectations to something realistic. Fix the issue at hand, and make sure your company doesn’t make the same mistake again.

Don’t say you’ll try. Clients don’t hear those words. They hear a “yes” instead.

And now you’re screwed, and so is your team.

That’ll do for this week. A different kind of newsletter, something “from the trenches” that I felt like sharing. Let me know if you like content like this, or if I should stick to the tactical stuff.

Next week, we’ll dig deep into something practical again. Help me decide!