When Lowering Expectations Isn't So Bad

Last week I volunteered to pick up some food, from the local Olive Garden, for Lulu's volunteer Christmas party.  I showed up about 10 minutes early, payed for the food and I sat down. The waitress said it would be out in 10 minutes.  After waiting 20 minutes, I thought, well it's alot of food and they have to pack it up.  Around that time the waitress came by again and said it would be out in 5 minutes.  Needless to say this continued and "5 minutes" soon turned into "any minute" and then "any second." By the time I got out of there I had been waiting for 50 minutes. 

I don't fault them for taking a long time in preparing the order. Working several years in the food industry has made me appreciate what it takes to get orders out. The thing that bugged me the most wasn't the time but the unrealistic expectations that were set.  

There has been instances where I have given unrealistic expectations on project deadlines and what can be created with the time allowed.  In most cases, this always leads to late nights or upset clients.  

What If the waitress would have come to me and said, "Sir, we are really swamped right now and it's going to take longer then expected." I still would probably still  be upset but at least that gives them room to surprise me.  Same thing with working with departments on projects.  

Being upfront and truthful in the beginning gives me the opportunity to surprise the client.  Maybe I'm able to turn around a project in one week instead of the three.  Or maybe I can spend more time on research and sketching which will in turn give them a better piece at the end.  

This is something I need to work on this coming year.  Being able to gauge my time and abilities to set real, achievable expectations.