meeting deadlines

If you do the type of work that requires you to meet milestones and deadlines, you know how important it is to stay on top of your schedule. No employer wants to find that the time frame set forth at the beginning of a project is not going to be met, and no employee wants to deal with an unhappy employer as a result of unmet deadlines. How can you be sure of meeting deadlines and keeping the boss happy? Here are a few tips:

1) Treat your deadline with respect. Deadlines aren't sort of, kind of, a time to get your work in. If you've committed yourself to a deadline, you must make every effort to have your work finished by then.

2) Before you commit to a deadline, take time to figure out how long the project will take you. Be realistic and add a bit of time for glitches. That way, if you don't run into any problems, you can get the work done and turned in before it's due, and that's a bonus!

3) Never commit to a deadline that you know you can't keep just to get a job. This will hurt your chances of having future projects offered to you.

4) If you're in a time crunch, consider getting up early or staying up late to finish the work on time. This is not recommended as a common way of handling a deadline, because when you are hurrying and tired, the quality of your work may suffer. But if you occasionally find yourself scrambling, you may have to put in some sleepless hours.

5) Get help if you're over extended. If you have certain tasks that you could have a friend or someone in your household give you a hand with, ask them to help out.

6) Focus yourself. Don't allow distractions to take you away from work.

7) Schedule your work and treat the time you have scheduled the same way you'd treat an important appointment.

8) If you know you're going to miss the deadline, let your employer know immediately. Offer a new, alternate time frame and make every effort to honor it.

Everyone misses a deadline now and then, but it's not desirable to do so. One good way to keep an employer happy is by keeping to the agreed upon schedule for project completion.
 

Posted:Friday, September 07, 2007