Business Core · Stakeholders · Module
Expectations
What each stakeholder actually wants, established by asking rather than by assuming. Assumed expectations are usually the organisation’s own priorities restated.
The idea
How it works
Expectations recorded without being asked for are projections. They tend to be flattering, convenient, and wrong in ways that only become visible under pressure.
Stated positions and underlying interests differ. A stakeholder asking for a monthly report may want reassurance rather than data, and meeting the stated request without the underlying one satisfies nobody.
Working with it
In practice
- 01
Ask rather than infer
Directly, and periodically. Inference produces a list of your own priorities in other people’s names.
- 02
Separate position from interest
What they are asking for, and what it is for. The second is where agreement is possible.
- 03
Record conflicts rather than resolving them on paper
Stakeholder expectations genuinely conflict. Pretending otherwise defers the decision.
- 04
Say what will not be met
An expectation you have no intention of meeting is better named than left standing.
One level in
The components of expectations
A component is something that exists afterwards which did not exist before — a deliverable or a mechanism, not an intention.
The expectation record
What each stakeholder wants, in their words, with the date it was established.
LearnThe conflict register
Where expectations are genuinely incompatible, and how that is being handled.
Learn
An expectation you have no intention of meeting should be named. Silence is read as agreement.
The other modules in stakeholders
Identification
Establishing who is affected by the organisation and who can affect it. The second group is usually mapped; the first is usually not.
LearnEngagement
How each stakeholder is involved — informed, consulted, or genuinely party to the decision — and being honest about which.
LearnReporting
What is communicated to whom, how often, and in what form — including the things that are harder to report.
Learn