Managing Expectations
| What Is Happening When We Are At Work? | |
| Expectations Are Formed Before The Experience! | |
| Little Things Can Escalate Into Something BIG..! | |
| What's Needed For A Better Resolution of CONFLICT |
Whilst better Local Practice Resources can enable the development of a better building process, ABLE understands that people and their behaviour control the successful use of any resource.
ABLE believes that a better explanation (description) is a useful way to shape behaviour. ABLE uses the following models to describe the issues that effect people and their behaviour.
What Is Happening When We Are At Work?
It’s a circular process. Service Provision is where we develop the skills and knowledge we need to undertake what we agreed to do (competence) and the business provides us with access to relevant resources and authority (capability).
Service Delivery is when we are doing what we do – it is where we (seller) interact with our client (buyer, or next person in the process).
Our "in the moment" ability to work (capacity) is affected by our emotional state and our felt need to achieve and/or sustain a desired outcome. It’s the same for our client. No matter how hard we train and prepare we can’t control their emotional state and how it could be affecting their experience of our service delivery.
Customer Satisfaction is the outcome. It provides an opportunity to reflect on how service provision and/or delivery could be improved. But it is also the time to remember that the outcome is never guaranteed. We can learn better ways to manage the process, but sometimes factors outside our control will affect our client’s satisfaction response.
Expectations Are Formed Before The Experience!
Explanations are the conversations we have with ourselves that shape our expectations.
Expectations are what we think will happen – experience is what actually happens.
After an experience we evaluate the gap between what we thought would happen and what happened. This is where disputes emerge!
Think about the proposition that we should under promise and over deliver! It’s suggesting that we should shape our buyer’s expectation because if we don’t they will, and it might not be what we can deliver!
Little Things Can Escalate Into Something BIG..!
A dispute doesn’t just happen; it’s more likely to have emerged as the result of escalating expectation–experience gaps.
A series of nothing said…but something’s just not right evaluations become the foundation for minor clashes we call incidents.
Misunderstandings then lead to emerging negativity which increases tension, and this is expressed as a negative attitude.
The underlying tension becomes the trigger for a crisis (dispute) in which behaviour is affected.
What does this mean?
We might inherit a client with emerging negativity or negative attitudes. Whilst any earlier incidents and the reasons for them may be out of our control, we will need to deal with the issue that emerges as a focus of dispute – and find a resolution to the CONFLICT!
What’s Needed For A Better Resolution Of CONFLICT?
Belief + Physiology = Emotional State > BEHAVIOR
Our behaviour is determined by our capacity to act effectively in the moment. This is influenced by our emotional state, which in turn is created by our beliefs and physiology.
We can manage physiology (how we function) by negotiating a time and place when everyone involved is least likely to be tired, angry, rushed, distracted, hungry etc.
We can develop the useful beliefs needed to manage the resolution process by learning, and then practicing, how to engage another party in a meaningful resolution conversation.
Ritual > FACT > Thoughts > Feelings > Shared Meaning
Step 1
Be polite and don’t place too much emphasis on the other person’s meet and greet rituals. They don’t necessarily mean much – they are mostly just habits!
Step 2
Establish the FACTS. What physically exists, what has been documented, or what has occurred? This clarifies what happened and is the basis for effective discussion.
Step 3
Declare your thoughts on the facts and invite the other party to express theirs – this removes the tendency to assume the other party’s (worse than it might be) position.
Step 4
State how "bad", "mad", "sad" or "glad" you are feeling and invite the other party to express their feelings. This gives each party a better understanding of why there is dissatisfaction.
Step 5
Start exploring how you can align their what I expected with your what I reckon needs to be done. When common facts have emerged return to Step 2, clarify what has been agreed (write it down), and work through Steps 3-4 again if needed to ensure that all parties have a shared meaning about what ill be.
Acting Effectively
Once we reach agreement about what will be, then acting effectively to achieve that outcome means being specific about where we are going, gathering the information needed to know if we are on track, and remaining flexible enough to change plans if and when needed.