What they didn't teach you in business school - How to manage deadlines.

Back when you were a student, you’re perception of “getting things done” was probably something like the following:

Scenario 1:

You wait until mere hours before the deadline to start, research, write, edit and complete the project just in time for the deadline. In fact, you probably had to run across campus, leaping over bike racks and pushing students aside to get the paper in the box at exactly 3:59:59 PM. Although this always seems like poor planning after the fact, you will indeed repeat this behaviour with the next report/paper/project you are assigned.

Scenario 2:

You wait until approximately 2-3 days before the deadline arrives and then scramble, similarly to scenario 1, to get the work done. (Mildly better than scenario 1 because you didn’t lose your breath whilst dropping off the paper).

Scenario 3:

You begin the assignment immediately after receiving the instructions and will create a project plan with progress goals. You do this so that you can measure your progress and if any red flags pop up along the way, you’ll have plenty of time to deal with them.

Now, be honest. Which scenario were you?

(Oh, and don’t even bother picking scenario 3, because we all know this is what we weren’t doing, but should have learned been doing.)

Once you’re out there working for the real dollars, you’ll realize that no one ever taught you how to properly manage deadlines. This is a bit like learning how to track your time, but the crucial difference is that you have to remember all the layers involved.

A few quick suggestions for getting the deadline without recreating Scenario 1:

1. Learn to track your time so you can evaluate how long things like research, writing, editing, etc, take.

2. Make a schedule,. a Gantt chart; anything that will show you visually what needs to get done, by who, and in what timeframe.

3. Figure out the buffers. Like, who needs to approve each step of the process? How long will it take? If you don’t account for this, you won’t meet the deadline.

4. Stick to the plan.

And, for bonus points (because I like bonus points, even when I am the only one keeping score), see how many days you can complete the work prior to the deadline! N.B. Guaranteed not to happen as often as you would like.

[Via http://kimberleymosher.wordpress.com]

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