Tips for Meeting Deadlines Easily
by JoyLynn Reed  Have
you ever missed a deadline? One of the most difficult feats of professional
life is budgeting time well. Whether you're a consultant or in charge
of a project in your organization, you have to define projects and set
delivery dates. This seems like it should be easy. But there are some
dangers:
- Underestimating the amount of time you need
- Charging too little for the amount of time that will be required to
finish the work
- Promising something and not having it done by your deadline
- Appearing incompetent because you've missed a deadline
- Having to appease angry clients/managers because you've overrun your
budget
- Working extra hours to try to honor your deadlines
 By
using a few simple strategies you can set reasonable timelines for projects.
- First, it is crucial that you define the project. That sounds simple
and almost silly to say. But often there is a big mismatch between how
a client or manager envisions the finished project and how you do. You
have to ask, "What do you want to see at the end of the project?"
"What will it look like when it is completed?" "What
form/format do you expect?" Get as many details as you can so you
both agree about the outcome. It often helps after the first meeting
to do a preliminary outline and timeline of the project and the steps
involved. Scheduling a second meeting to iron out details can solidify
you visions of the outcome.
- Next, break the project into several sub-tasks. I always try to keep
breaking down tasks until I have them small enough to do in four or
fewer hours. For example, when I wrote my dissertation for my Ph.D.,
I broke up the project called "dissertation" into five smaller
projects: literature review, study 1, study 2, study 3, analysis and
conclusions. Each of those five was broken into even smaller projects.
Study 3 was broken into: write questionnaires, get participant's consent,
schedule data collection time and place, collect data, enter data into
the computer and so on. Breaking your project into smaller tasks lets
you estimate time more accurately. It was much easier for me to estimate
how long it would take to write one questionnaire than it would have
been to estimate how long it would take to do "study 1."
- Once you have your list of tasks, put a check mark beside each one
you have done before. Then go back through and write down how much time
those tasks required in the past. You could even do this in a spreadsheet
and keep a running total of time.
- What do you do about the tasks you've never done? I usually ask two
other people how they approach such tasks and how long it takes them.
If they give me two very different answers, I ask a third person. Suppose
you have a consulting contract to develop a web site. Maybe you know
a lot about the development tools you'll use, you're good at graphic
design and you're excellent at writing content. But you have never developed
a web site before.
Ask friends if they've developed web sites or know anyone who has. Ask
for advice from any related industry association discussion boards.
You could also find a developer and invite her to lunch or coffee to
get advice. Most professionals are happy to give advice to newbies.
- Yikes, you've found out that you underestimated the time you'll need
or the amount of work a project will take. What should you do now? My
first strategy is to write down the reasons that the project will take
more time. Are those reasons good ones in the manager’s or client's
eyes? If so, you can negotiate a new timeline and perhaps a new fee.
If not, I try to meet with her as soon as possible to solve the problems
together. It's important to admit a mistake without making excuses.
Generally managers and clients have been forgiving when I've been up
front about my own mistakes and I turn to them to help me solve the
problem.
The bad news is that you will most likely over- or underestimate time
in a project at least once during your career. The great news is that
the more experience you have, the easier this task will get. The best
news is that it doesn't take long to learn these strategies. It only takes
attention to detail.
Source:
http://www.ivillage.com/work/job/succeed/articles/0,,187833_229636,00.html?arrivalSA=1&cobrandRef=0&arrival_freqCap=2
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