In 1994 I managed a team that delivered a project that any outsider or any project team member would have considered a success. The product represented a great leap forward for the company. It included far more features than the product that was being replaced, was built using new state-of-the-art technologies with which the company had no prior experience, and included the development of three data centers that went on to provide 99.99999% uptime over the next six years. However, the project was almost considered a failure.
The project was to be delivered into multiple call centers with more than 300 nurses on the phones. It was to replace a quirky but familiar system that the company was rapidly outgrowing. The nurses’ expectations of what the new system would deliver were sky high. In monthly sprint reviews with the nurses, I was routinely shocked by what they’d come to expect, some of which wasn’t even technically feasible.
With about three months left on the year-long project, I realized my focus had to change. From then on, I spent almost all of my time on expectations management. I met with nurses in each of the call centers and described exactly what would and would not be in the delivered system. I toned down their expectations about the system’s impact on world peace, global warming, and personal weight loss. Without this effort, the product would have been perceived as a failure.
Since that project, I have been acutely aware of the importance of expectations management to the overall success of any project. Setting and managing expectations is perhaps even more important at the start of a major shift such as adopting Scrum. In initiating a transition to Scrum, I find it helpful to set and manage expectations about four things:
- How quickly teams will improve
- How long it will take to gain additional predictability from the team’s new way of working
- How there will almost always come a time when turning back looks easier than sticking with it
- The level of involvement in the transition that will be necessary from various stakeholders and organization leaders
By properly setting expectations you can avoid the problem of having an otherwise successful transition or project sunk by unrealistic expectations.
More details about setting and managing expectations can be found in Chapter 5 of Succeeding with Agile.
Mike,
I wish I had read this post when I got married. *grin*
Right on Mike! In my experience, whether it be for a simple one iteration story or a 24 month large scale project, setting the expectation as Product Owner has been critical to the perceived success of the project. It is often overlooked and unfortunately easily forgotten.
Hi Rajiv–
I think I set my wife’s expectations correctly during our wedding ceremony. When asked if I “would take this woman as my wife,” I turned to my groomsmen (who included her brother) and said, “So, what do you guys think? Should I get married or not?” They knew it was coming and so played along.
But right there my wife’s expectations were set that I would always be a practical joker! It must have worked though as we’ve been married for 21 great years so far.
BTW: Her dad got back at me. Later in the ceremony he was asked “Who gives this woman for marriage.” Instead of saying “her mother and I” like he was supposed to, he stood up, and asked his wife, “Well, should we or not?” I loved it!
Hi Jack–
Excellent point. The product owner can play a huge part in setting expectations correctly. On many projects the product owner is the highest ranking person on the project (in the company hierarchy) or has the most political clout. A product owner who helps sets realistic expectations can be a real boon to a project–e.g., instead of “It WILL be done by June 1–guaranteed!” we want one who says “We’re in great shape for June 1 but there’s a lot of time left but the team is doing a good job of monitoring risk and helping me avoid scope creep so it looks good but nothing’s ever guaranteed.”
Thanks for your comments. And, by the way, I like your blog http://productownerblog.com/ and need to spend more time checking out the posts there.
Great post Mike. Managing expectations is the job of any manager or Scrum Master, and as you say especially at the start of a major shift to Agile.
I would add that knowing what the expectations are on the business side is very important as well. What do they expect to gain from the move to Agile? How do they expect to be able to visualize the progress? Then communicating that to the team so everyone knows what is expected is imperative.
Hi Robert–
Oooh, Great point. Understanding others’ expectations is (as you say) as critical as setting expectations of us. I do talk about the need to do that somewhere in the Succeeding with Agile book but wasn’t think about it when writing this post. I have a great example of a business that wanted an app rewritten to make it more maintainable. But when I met with team members individually at that company each person gave me a completely different reason why they thought the business was undertaking a rewrite of the system. Eight people, eight reasons.
@Mike: exactly. Also I got a copy of your book here and will do a video review of it once I finish it. Fantastic stuff as usual sir. When you come to Orlando again, or if I see you elsewhere, I’ll have to get you to sign it
Thanks, Robert. I’m pleased to hear you like the book so far. I look forward to seeing you again in Orlando. Hopefully you’ve been able to make some good video interviews lately. I saw the video of Tony Hsieh of Zappos on your site and liked it.
[...] Setting and Managing Expectations – Mike Cohn [...]
Great read. I recently had a similar experience with a project although we seemed to be on the same “expectation track” until the last minute when the client went a bit wild.
2010 is definately going to see a massive increase in our client contact and communication through out the development process.