From the course: Time Management Tips

Negotiate deadlines with coworkers

From the course: Time Management Tips

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Negotiate deadlines with coworkers

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- If you work with other people, you'll often run into a conflict over deadlines. You're working on a sales presentation that needs to be done tomorrow, but your coworker also wants you to deliver that financial report to them tomorrow. They both can't get done at that time. How do we figure out what to do in this situation? First, I recommend cultivating the question for both yourself and for others, "When is the latest that this can be done?" Thinking this way is what I call positive procrastination. And it forces you to get real about your true priorities. This question goes both ways. Sometimes what you think is a priority is really an impatientcy, because it's something you're impatient about. You're going to put it ahead of somebody else's need. And sometimes the reverse is true. If you create the expectation for yourself and for your coworkers that you're always going to ask the when-is-the-latest question, it's not going to seem very weird to them, well at least not over time. The first couple of times you ask this they may feel that you're not treating what they want you to do as a priority. So in the beginning, you may want to explain the principle to them, something like, "When is the latest this can be done? "I'm not asking this because it's not important to me. "In fact, I'm asking it because it's very important to me "that I get this done for you. "And because I'm juggling other priorities, "I want to make sure I don't miss your important deadline." Something like that. Then you can pull out your calendar in front of them and take a look at what you have on your schedule. With the information that they've given you about their timelines, you can find room on your calendar, except when you can't. Sometimes you just won't have the time, in which case I would communicate out loud what you're running into. Don't expect them to understand what's on your mind. You might say something like, "Wow, I'm looking at this, "and I'm having a really hard time finding enough time "to do this. "I'm estimating that it's probably going to take me "three hours to work on this project, "and I'm not finding three open hours. "I just wanna check, are you absolutely certain "that's the latest I can turn this in?" Talking out loud takes the guesswork out of their minds. It also gives them an opportunity to communicate with you about your assumptions. Maybe you're thinking it will take three hours, but it's really going to take 30 minutes. They can help you understand that. And perhaps as they hear you talk about it, they may reconsider their own expectations and say, "Well honestly, I could probably give you another week," or something like that. One caution, in situations where you're communicating with coworkers and you know the latest that something needs to be done, avoid scheduling time to complete it at the last possible moment. Back it up a little bit. Give yourself a little room in case something goes wrong. Additionally, if you complete things just a little bit ahead of deadlines, your coworkers will come to trust you and respect your judgment in terms of prioritization. They'll know that you will beat or exceed the deadline. Deadlines are all about expectations, and workplace satisfaction is often about meeting or beating those expectations.

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