Three Tips to Avoid False Deadlines

Your inability to plan and prepare effectively is not my emergency, unless I allow it to be so.

We are all familiar with due dates, deadlines, and project completion dates. Those are critical checkpoints for any business to meet the obligations and expectations of the customer. 

Creating false deadlines or expecting unreasonable expectations drives anxiety, pressure, stress, and fear. If the people you are delegating an assignment to regularly miss the deadlines established, you either need to coach and train them, or you have the wrong team. Setting false deadlines in intended to only benefit the person setting those expectations. 

True deadlines create urgency, bias for action, and teamwork. When you set a deadline to make your life or job easier, but your the one that procrastinates, that's an entirely different topic. Actual deadlines promote consistent time management skills and limit procrastination. 

In my three decades of successes and failures, I have seen false deadlines set due to a lack of planning, a lack of knowledge, a lack of ownership, a lack of work ethic, a lack of preparation, and a lack of self-awareness. We are all guilty of one or more of the above shortcomings, however, becoming aware of when and how you create false deadlines will make your life and the people you count on most far less stressed, burnt out, or frustrated. 

Proper Planning

Here are three tips to better plan your time, attention, and activity to avoid premature deadlines:

1. Set Realistic Expectations 
2. Align Resources 
3. Regular Check-in Schedule 

Set Realistic Expectations 

This includes deadlines for the work or project to be completed. In order to motivate and create a high-performance work team, you must be realistic. False deadlines are equivalent to the boy that cried wolf, at some point in the future, your team will disengage. By establishing real deadlines and staying close to the progress, you will reduce stress, anxiety, fear of failure, and build trust within the ranks. 

Align Resources

Delegation is a powerful tool, when used properly. Align your subject matter experts and your protégés with accurate intelligence, support, and resources to complete the project on time and on budget. Resource allocation is a critical tool to employ around meeting objectives and deadlines. 

Regular Check-in Schedule

Communication is key to achieving the right results. Be certain to establish regular performance check-ins with each person that is involved in the successful outcome. Honest, open, and timely feedback is the foundation of success in business, and provides focus, course correction, and trust throughout each endeavor. 

Avoid setting false deadlines and your performance will improve, your results will become more predictable, and your chance of burn out or apathy amongst your talent will be greatly reduced. 

Mark Krajnik, LSSGB, CPC, (The Culture Coach) is the CEO at Performance Mindset Associates (PMA). Mark is a tenured Talent Strategist, Executive Coach, and experienced people leader, and offers fractional chief people officer services. He is an Executive Talent Leader in recruitment operations, executive search, talent acquisition, L&D, culture coaching, human capital consulting, change management, and talent management. He is very passionate about people, building high-performance teams, creating retention-focused cultures, and career development. He brings a focus on performance, execution, creative problem solving, and goal achievement. Please go to performancemindset.co for more information or send an email to info@performancemindset.co.