10 Skills of Elite Testers: Day #3

Another key component in your ability to build trust is your skill at managing the expectations that others have of you. If you want to increase your odds of being in a position to succeed (and no one else can be counted on to do this as well as you), you must have a clear understanding of what others expect of you and ensure that you can meet those expectations.

Skill #3:
Managing Expectations

You can control what you agree to deliver. But if you agree to deliver on something that you are not able to, you will be seen as someone that cannot be counted on. It does not matter to most people why you didn’t deliver, only that you didn’t. So, you must be aware of what you agree to.

It is imperative that people expecting results from you can count on them being delivered when they expect them to be. Make sure you know when your results are expected and be very clear about what those results should contain.

When testing is assigned to you, be very clear about when it needs to be completed and your results delivered. If someone is expecting your results in the next two hours and you take two days, then they will question what you were doing.

They will question why they didn’t receive the results they were expecting when they expected to have them. They may not say so aloud, but they will nonetheless feel that they cannot rely on you.

The first step in managing expectations is to clearly communicate your understanding of the expectations people have of you with them so that you are both on the same page. If you say you will deliver results by a certain time, be sure that you do. This will build trust.

If you will not be able to meet that deadline, inform the people that will be affected as soon as you realize it. If your results are due by the end of the day, then 5:00pm is the wrong time to figure out that you won’t be able to make the deadline.

As soon as you can see that you will not be able to complete your assignment and deliver your results within the agreed upon timeframe, inform the person expecting those results. Then make sure you tell them why your results will be delayed, when they can expect the results, and ask if it would be helpful for you to send them the results you have so far.

Although it is not the best thing to miss a deadline, people understand that life happens and that unexpected issues arise. So, if you cannot keep your commitment, the next best thing you can do is tell the person as early as possible. Explain the delay (if appropriate), update your deadline with them (or for them), and offer your up-to-the-minute status (that I am sure you have, since you have been documenting everything).

By doing this, you will build a relationship of trust with those that you work with. They will trust that you will deliver on time because you will have ensured that you can do so when you first agree to the deadline for your results.

They will trust that if something goes awry, you will keep them informed and not try to sweep it “under the rug”. Since you are keeping them informed, they can communicate the status of the project as accurately as possible – this also makes them look good.

They will trust you with more critical parts of projects because you have shown that they can count on you. Build this trust with them by managing expectations effectively. If you do, you will never regret it.

The superior man is modest in his speech, but exceeds in his actions.
~Confucius, The Confucian Analects