Lessons Learned - Expectations

OK, it's after midnight, I'm sitting here babysitting a system upgrade implementation (absolutely the biggest project I've worked on, and I'm the technical lead...some nerves are in play here). So I thought this would be a good time come out and ramble on a bit about something...so let me think of something.

OK, I've got it, let's call this a lessons learned posting, and I'm sure there will be many more to come.

This lessons learned posting encompasses expectations. I have learned the very hard lesson that both setting expectations and understanding those set for you is much more of an art than a science. For some people being explicit in setting expectations is perfect, they want to know exactly what you expect from them. They want to know what, when and how, and aren't overly concerned with why. Give them the task, steps required to execute the task, a deadline, and expected results and they go about it. Some people are offended with this type of detail. I am one of those. I am a professional, give me the task and the deadline and I will get it done. If I have questions I'll ask them. Then there are people who none of this appears to work for. Give them detailed information and it seems to overwhelm them, and they just do what they think they should regardless. Give them a minimum amount of info and they do something completely unexpected.

I am beginning to understand the first, I am most comfortable with the second, and I am eternally frustrated by the third. This will likely be one of my biggest areas to work on, is how to manager (in the technical sense, I am not a manager) this type of contributor. As someone who will, hopefully, be a technical lead on many more projects, I need to come up with a pattern or process for managing this type of person. I believe there will likely always be one, if not more, so being prepared is my best option. By all means if you have any suggestions for me, hit me up with a comment.