What are “future expectations” and how do you find out about them?
The world and your environment are constantly changing, and so are the expectations of your stakeholders .Future expectations are the requirements and needs that people will have of companies in the future. A certain lead time is usually required to fulfill these requirements. The earlier and better you anticipate probable expectations, the more successful you will be in the future.
You can't just ask customers what they want and try to give it to them. By the time you've finished it, they want something else.
In addition to recording the current expectations, it is therefore important that you also record the probable future expectations of the interest groups as well as possible. To this end, your instruments for recording expectations in future aspects should be expanded.
examples of additional instruments:
- Observation of the (innovative) market leader
- Observation of megatrends
- Observation of technology trends
- Review of relevant (global) legislative proposals
- Developments in patents
- Valuations of startups
In addition, professional risk management tools can provide you with valuable information on probable risks and effective preventive measures.
The sum of the findings from these instruments provides you with an early warning system that sounds the alarm in good time if your future success is at risk.
Tip on the “future budget”
As a rule of thumb, proactive companies:
- 60% of your attention on current expectations
- 30% are based on foreseeable future expectations
- 10% they focus on things that may still sound “fantastic” today.
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