Project management is not rocket science. I’m convinced, however, that it takes many, many years to master, if not a lifetime. I’ve only been doing it full-time for the past 4 years, and I’m still learning. I got burned twice this week on some mis-aligned expectations with two different clients, and now I’m eating the cost and kicking myself after not following the all important design phase, where specific scope of expectations should be defined. Maybe I’m just rusty after all the long-term projects I’ve been working on.

Regardless, how do you overcome getting beat on project expectations?