The Unspoken Expectation

Expectations can make or break a lot of things.

If expectations are exceeded, it's a great experience!

If they are met, it's a good experience.

If they fall short, it's a bad experience.

If none are met, it's a terrible experience.

Where this can get particular sticky is in relationships.

We often have expectations of other people. That person could be our spouse, our business partner, a team member, an employee, a sub-contractor, a client,  a friend (you get the point).

​The thing about expectations is that they are often unspoken.

We expect other people to do certain things or act a certain way. These expectations could have been set because of things promised by the other person or something that has happened in the past or even something said by somebody else out of context.

Have you had expectations of people before where they did not deliver? Did they know what your expectations were? Did you clearly lay out your expectations?

Perhaps the first expectation should be to lay out the expectations.