Promising more than you can deliver?

• Expected to deliver more, faster and with fewer resources?
• It's easy to make promises to get people off your back.
• It buys a bit of breathing space and you can hope you make it.
• Underlying this tactic, however, is your own anxiety or fear.
• You fear other people's wrath if you promise less.
• One strategy is to address your fear directly.
• Can you convince yourself you have nothing to fear?
• Do you know a role model who promises more accurately without fear?
• Another approach is to manage your customers' expectations.
• Give them an optimistic, realistic and pessimistic forecast, indicating clearly what has to happen to achieve the best date.
• Agree to an optimistic date only if they're prepared for a later date.
• Ask how they can help to facilitate the earlier date.
• Negotiate precise times for updates on possible delays.
• Work with them to create a contingency plan.
• Stress how hard you will try to meet their needs including their need to be warned of potential delays and to develop contingency plans.
• You make yourself anxious by focusing on what you can't do.
• By stressing what you will do, you move away from the negative mode that makes you feel anxious or guilty for not trying hard enough.
• Sell them on the advantages of a realistic date or an optimistic one with contingency plans.
• Encourage them to take more responsibility for the outcome if they insist on an optimistic timeframe.