Employer Expectation - Do I know how to effectively manage people’s expectations realistically?

Employer expectation management is one of the most essential skills in computer support jobs and implementing projects for people.

There is nothing worse than going over an allotted amount of time to do a job. I’ve been in that situation and it’s not pleasant.

Employer Expectation is notoriously high much like in any other service industry. You do not want to under deliver in any way.

In the case of computer support jobs the most common occurrence of not managing expectations is when you give someone a timescale that is unrealistic.

To get around this you have to imagine the worst case scenario for your task in hand then add some extra ’unexpected glitch’ time on top.

If you estimate a job will take 1 hour, tell them it will take 2. Use your judgement on how much leeway you allow yourself but be sure to never open yourself up to complaints.

Be honest with them about your timing estimate, tell them:

“the job should take 15-30 minutes, however certain problems have been known to occur which add another 30 minutes and in the highly improbably but entirely possible worst case scenario this can happen and make it take another hour. Be prepared for the fact that it could take up to 2.5 hours”…..

…………….then when the job takes 10 minutes you come up smelling of roses!

Managing employer expectation is very important because people like to complain and blame things on their IT department. So cover yourself, always plan for the worst case scenario.

This is one of the most important customer facing skills you will ever use in any computer job. Managing employer expectation is a vital business awareness skill to have that will set you apart from the rest.

This leads me on to my next topic:

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