Summary: Nowadays, auditors have to deal with many expectations in their working day. Sometimes it is difficult to balance and meet all those expectations, hence, expectation management is a necessary skill. That skill will be beneficial in many situations, especially when working with customers or managers. However, to apply successfully, there are several considerations, including the awareness of your current resource & condition, the willingness to raise your voice, and honest & transparent communication.

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Normally, on a workday, the auditors have to deal with a lot of expectations. It is because the auditors work with different parties, both internal and external, while each party always has their own request for the auditors. Thanks to that job nature, it is sometimes challenging to balance and satisfy all their requests.

I believe that expectation management is one of the necessary skills for the employees, especially the auditor, to overcome that challenge. What does “expectation management” mean? Simply speaking, it is to offer reasonable promises and build relevant expectations to other parties. For example, if you promise 6, but you provide 7, then the counter party is very happy, because you are above their expectation. However, if you promise 8, but you deliver 7.5, then it is clearly below the set expectation. Even though 7.5 is higher than 7, but your counter party may not be happy. That’s why we need something called “expectation management’.

In the working life of an auditor, there are many situations where you can apply expectation management. It is particularly helpful when working with customers or managers.

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Working with the customers

It can apply on dealing with the customers. Take one simple case below as an example. After so many follow-ups attempts and long waiting times, the customers finally provide to you the documents, supporting work, evidence, etc… However, after that, they will chase your back, asking immediately for replies, acceptance, confirmation, or even signed auditors’ report. Does that story sound familiar to you? Honestly, it is impossible to finish in such a short time length. Clearly, you still need time to check and evaluate the quality of documents and perform further necessary procedures.

How can you avoid that situation? First, you should make it clear with the customers about the process once receiving the documents. To be honest and transparent with them about the next checking steps, the amount of time might be taken, and further questions could be followed up. Then, they can have a clearer expectation that the process might take time, and the audit team could not give them immediate answers. Naturally, they can reply with some arguments, so please prepare for the negotiation and discussion to agree on the timeline. Take note that you never compromise the work quality in the pressure of the customers on time, fee, or anything else, so the key process and important procedures have to be respected.

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Working with the team

It can apply to working with your team. In many cases, your managers would like to set deadlines to review your tasks. Sometimes, you might want to show to others that you’re hard-working, ambitious, or highly competent. Then, you might agree with any date or timeline asked for by the manager, worrying about a bad impression if you do not say “Yes”. It might not be ideal for you if the deadline is so tight. As a result, you have to work overtime, take less time to take care of yourself, and suffer from your stress. All of them will have a negative impact on your task’s quality.

How can you avoid that? You can discuss and negotiate with your managers on the submission date, considering your resources, on-going tasks, and health conditions. Feel free to do so on an honest and transparent basis. Remember to allow some buffer time to rest and recover physically and mentally. Even though it is peak season with full-packed timeline, a “recharge the battery” period is still essential. Also, you can negotiate with the manager on the “quality” of the submission tasks, such as the level of detail, first draft or 2nd draft, etc. It will assist managers to have reasonable expectations on the tasks you submitted. Please bear in mind, higher requirement, more needed time.

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Obviously, expectation management can be applied on another life aspects, far beyond the working environment. For examples, in your personal relationship, in your individual business, or even in the estimated deliver time of your Shopee orders. Although, to apply successfully, there are several considerations which have been already mentioned above in this article. First, be aware of your resources and conditions. Simply, you could not do everything in a limited timeframe and resources, because you’re not superman. Second, feel free to raise your voice and open for discussion. Do not hesitate to express your opinions, otherwise other people will not know. Third, be always honest and transparent. No one wants to work with an untrustworthy person, you get it, right?