Into the Lion’s Den:
Managing Expectations
David Boersen, Senior Planner, Babbage Consultants Ltd
Managing Expectations: Overview
+ Planners
• Introductions
– Into the Lion’s Den
• About managing expectations
• Case studies
– Political decisions
– Private clients – paying for experts
• Lessons learnt
Managing Expectations: Expectations eh?
+ Planners
• Question: What are expectations?
Answer: Expectations are your client's vision
of a future result or action, usually unstated
but which is critical to your success…. a
resource consent, a new policy, a specific
outcome…
• Q: Whose expectations? A: Clients
• Q: Who are clients? A: Everybody
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Clients (the ones paying the $$)
Processing planners at council
Councillors making decisions
Consultants, Architects, Project managers
General Public
Affected parties
Managing Expectations: Why?
+ Planners
• Q: Why are expectations important?
• A: They are the measure of our success and they drive your
client’s actions and decisions
Managing Expectations: Ok I’m listening
+ Planners
• Q: How do we manage expectations?
• A: S-M-I Set – Monitor – Influence
– Set – establish what are the expectations
– Monitor – work out whether you are
meeting/still meeting expectations
– Influence – alter/ help set realistic
expectations
• This is an ongoing process – subject to
continued re-evaluation
– requires sensitivity and judgement
Managing Expectation: Putting it into practice
+ Planners
• Q: How do you work out expectations?
• A: Ask – be up front ask – what do you want to achieve? By
when? Why? etc but also listen to what they say and what
they don't say. Listen to the context in which it is being said.
Managing Expectation: Putting it into practice
+ Planners
• Q: How do you influence?
• A: Be proactive – do it sooner rather than later
Establish trust
Educate / explain why
Show them, and then sell them
Balance the give and take
Use a bit of tacit – be discrete when necessary
Case Study 1
+ Planners
• Political decisions
– Context: Working for council advising councilors
– Set the expectations
• Clearly defined the scope of the decision they were
making – legal principles
– Monitored expectations
• “Harped back” to scope of decision
– Influenced
• Council had set buffers without mapping buffers
• Mapped them explained ludicracy of buffers being
suggested
– Discrete – did this behind closed doors “legally
privileged’
Case Study 2a
+ Planners
• Private client
– Context preparing resource consent applications
Job 1: Retirement Village
– Discretionary activity - complied with majority of
development controls including height
– Landscape architecture firm were commissioned to
prepare visual impact assessment (VIA) report suggest
some aspects of bulk be revisited!
– Client wasn't happy with report
– Asked why they were paying big fees for advice which
didn’t unanimously support the proposal
• Lesson: failed to set expectations about what report
might say, failed to set expectations about what
landscape architect would be willing to say (ie
consultants can not take a pure advocacy role), failed to
educate client about process
– Result: report was not used
Case Study 2b
+ Planners
• Private client
– Context preparing resource consent applications
Job 2: Industrial Activity
– Discretionary activity
– Ecologist commissioned to prepare ecological
assessment - report “slammed” proposal
– Again client wasn't happy with conclusion. In this case
though it probably wasn't the finding that was the
problem, but the way it was expressed.
• Lesson: consultants, whilst needing to maintain
professional integrity, also need to be conscious of the
way they frame their findings. In particular if possible a
negative finding should offer some constructive
solutions, mitigation or alternatives, rather than just
giving a "slamming“ to help meet
Lesson learnt
+ Planners
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Learn from your mistakes
Hindsight is amazing
Be upfront as possible
Listen to what is being said and
not said
• Document ‘expectations’
• Get confirmation of expectations