Forge Your Future with Open Source

The Importance of Setting Up and Maintaining Expectations

Many of the communication problems that any group of people face come from not paying attention to the expectations we have or we create in the minds of others. As we share our words and thoughts, those who experience them construct a series of assumptions and expectations based upon our words. When the actions we take end up not meeting the expectations someone else holds, disappointment usually follows.

When working on a contribution, the best way to avoid disappointment is to take the expectation setting into your own hands. You can do this by being very clear about what you will do in your contribution, why, and by when. Think of this as the communication version of the Principle ...