Teachable Moments: Understanding Expectations

Carlos Freitas is a project and portfolio management and PMO specialist with over eight years of project management education. As the Executive VP at PMI, Rio de Janeiro Chapter and as a PMI volunteer since 2007, Carlos has over 10 years of experience in IT(Development Systens, CMMi, Infrastructure, Telecommunication), Engineering projects (Oil & Gas sector, E&P, Wells Engineering, Drilling, Basic Engineering), Logistics and Supply Chain, Hospital & Healthcare industry; and Production (Chemistry industry).

 

Teachable moments are formed when you have done something--regardless of the outcome--and learned from the experience. Learning makes us better at what we do and provides a great opportunity to develop others and sharpen skills. We’ve compiled our best Teachable Moments from our community members for you to learn from and share with other project managers.

One of the most amazing things that I've had the opportunity to learn is that we should listen and understand people's expectations--whether coming from a team member or an executive.

In one project that I led a few years ago, we did not consider a risk indicated by the project team. The risk became real and we had to quickly cancel a system implementation--generating a negative impact on the organization and IT area.

Years later--and while at another company--the same situation happened again. But this time, we responded to the risk and the implementation took place as planned.

Tips:

1. Make an effort to really listen by removing distractions. Put away your cell phone, close your laptop and focus on what the other individual is trying to say.
2. To make sure you understand another person’s position, try repeating back, “If I understand correctly, you are expecting that…”
3. Sometimes the art of conversation can get lost in email. Try picking up the phone.
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