People hate excuses. Missed deadlines generate excuses faster than dogs eat homework!
When you are asked to undertake a project, understand the expectations. Be forthcoming with your questions about the parameters and purposes of the project. Get as much clarity as you can about what your boss is wanting from you specifically. Discuss the projected timeline in depth. Take time to consider your ability to meet the schedule. Agree to produce only what you are willing to deliver, what you CAN deliver. Then, proceed.
Everything is fine and, then, you hit a snag. What to do?
You might think you have good reasons for missing a deadline. No doubt, you do. Projects intervene. Others fail to get you information on time. The time for those reasons…and their solutions…is at the first moment you realize you will not be able to meet the deadline. It is essential to be pro-active. If there is likely to be a time problem, your boss wants to know about it at the earliest possible moment.
You demonstrate your understanding of the importance of a project to your manager by being pro-active in this way. Show that you are aware of his/her schedule. Be as accountable as possible. You want the project to succeed and, therefore, inform your boss of the needed alteration in timing as soon as possible. You are simply altering a schedule, not trashing a project. Put it in perspective for the success of the project. Demonstrate some control of the situation. You are offering a progress report, not a report of no progress.
Extending a deadline is buying time. What are you going to exchange for the purchase?
When you have not met a deadline, your boss has four main choices: fire you, demand free overtime, give the project to someone else, or extend your deadline. S/he is far more likely to feel positively about extending the deadline if you can demonstrate an increase in the value he or she will receive. Here’s a great example of this: “To do the most thorough job possible and prevent us from making a mistake on this, I’m going to need a week more. I don’t think it will do us any good to try to rush it and end up neglecting x.y and z.”* Be clear about what that additional time will produce–in this case, a more thorough, thoughtful and successful job.
Make no excuses. Folks may accept them, but, they will never like them. Being perceived as an excuse-maker, calls your effectiveness and maturity into question. It affects your future relationship with these folks.
This is big stuff! It’s your career. Be pro-active!
* Taken from Speaking UP! by Mark Rushkin, 1993.
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