Hard work but not recognized by the leadership? Good expectation management can save you a lot of detours

In 2006, the Guangdong Provincial College Entrance Examination composition title included a cartoon of two children, one of whom was slapped after his score dropped from 100 to 98.

Another child, on the other hand, was rewarded with a score of 55 to 61.

Why does this happen?

This is because humans are born with an aversion to loss.

The core idea of ​​Behavioral Economics Expectation Theory states that people are loss averse.

In most cases, the value lost is twice the value gained.

The last time a child gets a 100, their parents expect a 100, and if they don't get a 100, they're disappointed.

And a child who has been failing the test will be delighted by the parents once they pass the exam.

The same goes for the workplace.

We always say that the workplace is a place that focuses on results, so many young people just enter the workplace and know that they have to work hard, work overtime, stay up late, and do their jobs well.

But many people overlook another fundamental job skill: expectation management.

How satisfied your boss is with your job is as important as how well you do it and how high he expects you to be.

Nobel laureate in economics Kahneman once said: "People's decisions under uncertain conditions seem to be determined not by the results themselves, but by the gap between the results and the hypothesis."

In other words, if your boss expects too much from your work, he will not be satisfied even if the quality of your work does not meet his expectations.

On the other hand, if he doesn't expect too much from you, even the slightest flaw in his work will be fine.

For example: If Xiao Wang is very responsible for his work, he will often respond to the client's request, even if it is difficult to complete, will often change the plan for the client in the middle of the night.

Such an employee must be very dedicated, right? But even so, if one day he can't satisfy the customer because of a small problem, the customer has to complain about him.

Because what he expects in the mind of the customer is a positive response.

If Xiao Wang treats customers differently, the results will be very different.

For example, if a client asks him to do something, he will definitely say, "No problem, I'll do it for you."

Customer expectations will be high.

If he said: "Mr. Li, this matter is beyond the scope of the contract, I have not done a good job, I will strive for leadership, and I will call you if there is an answer."

Customer expectations are immediately lowered a lot.

He'll appreciate what you're doing and won't blame you if it doesn't work out.

This is called "expectation management".

One of the scariest things to do in the workplace is to push yourself low, give your boss high expectations, and then let them down.

What boss would like this kind of employee?

So how do we "manage expectations" in the workplace? Here are three approaches:

When committing to others, discount what you can

First, we cannot make promises to our bosses and clients that are beyond our capacity.

No matter what the place says, you shouldn't be soft-hearted.

Because temporary generosity will only bring more trouble.

Even within your reach, you should make some modest commitments to hide your power.

Let's say your work is 90 degrees and you tell people that your work is 80 degrees, and when you're done, they'll be happy that you were 85 degrees, let alone 90 degrees.

When accepting a task, be sure to agree with the expectations of both parties

What this means here is that when your boss gives you a task that he or she is unfamiliar with, you may find it a little difficult and laborious to do.

At this time, you must tell your boss about your worries and difficulties in the process, otherwise he will still think it is easy, if you do not do well, will think you can't do it.

Develop the habit of periodic reporting when performing tasks

"What's unusual about people's expectations is that they change and inflate over time," said Takeshi Hosoya, a prominent Japanese business consultant.

You may have had this experience.

When your boss gives you a project, he says "Plan A," and when you're almost done, he says "Plan B" has a lot of great ideas that can be combined.

This disrupts your plans, and you're likely to end up with a plan that no one is happy with.

So be sure to communicate and report with the boss in time to see if he has any new ideas and expectations, so that the two sides can continue to reach a consensus and the final result will not be unsatisfactory.

summary:

In conclusion, we must learn to manage expectations in the workplace.

Don't drive too high, and don't drive too low.

Many people worry that "expectation management" will affect their image in the eyes of others, but remember that when you brag about something you've done in the past, and then don't do it afterwards, people hate it even more.

We have to give each other a head start so they can lower their own expectations and be more likely to exceed them.