Today’s Lesson: Learn to Manage Expectations

Before I started my own business, I naively thought I knew all that I needed to know to be an effective project manager. Two clients later, I now know differently. I’ve talked before about the importance of effective communications, as well as a few other recently learned lessons. But today, another vital lesson slapped me in the face: managing expectations.

Start-up client #2 is 100% virtual: no actual employees; all resources are consultants and suppliers. My role: project manager. My main activities: establish the project schedule and milestones, coordinate team meetings, track action items, etc. I have great working relationships with some of the suppliers. Some of the other suppliers choose to communicate with the founder directly. Sometimes I get the messages; many times I don’t.

Late December 2007 and early January 2008 were anticipated to be critical to the technology and company future. We had EXTREMELY aggressive timelines, with little to no room for error. Keep in mind that the product is likely a class III medical device and that development really only started in September 2007. The goal for January was to conduct final system animal testing. One of the components is a custom electronic device with custom embedded software. The other component is a micro-catheter (less that 3FR OD) that incorporates ultra-fine electronics through the lumens. The expectation was that the full-up system would be ready and “perfect” with the first attempt.

Looking back, this is the point in time where I failed to manage the team and founder’s expectations. But we (the team) were committed to the cause and all put forth an astounding effort to just make it happen.

Some animal testing did occur this week. The electronics and software work pretty well, but there are a few “bugs” that need to be addressed. The catheter, however, has encountered several technological challenges relating to manufacturing. The  expectation was that the project manager (me) would apply “pressure” and push the team to tackle these challenges, work through the bugs, and get the final system ready to go by now.
From a regulatory and clinical perspective, there were other expectations, including:

• A pre-IDE meeting with the FDA would happen before the close of 2007.
• Animal testing would be simple and straight-forward to adequately demonstrate product safety.
• An IDE submission should be ready for FDA submission in early February 2008.
• An IDE clinical trial should only require a single site with limited # of patients.
• The clinical site IRB and enrollment process should be quick and easy.

I’ve known all along that every one of these expectations were not and are not realistic.

Herein lies the major lesson for me: Managing expectations does not mean caving in and committing to what others want to hear. Managing expectations means getting on the same page and developing a realistic view. It may not always be popular, but managing expectations is critical to success. I now know this and will apply this valuable lesson with all current and future endeavors.