You Want It By When?Written by Rhoberta Shaler
People hate excuses. Missed deadlines generate excuses faster than dogs eat homework!When you are asked to undertake a project, understand expectations. Be forthcoming with your questions about parameters and purposes of project. Get as much clarity as you can about what your boss is wanting from you specifically. Discuss projected timeline in depth. Take time to consider your ability to meet schedule. Agree to produce only what you are willing to deliver, what you CAN deliver. Then, proceed. Everything is fine and, then, you hit a snag. What to do? You might think you have good reasons for missing a deadline. No doubt, you do. Projects intervene. Others fail to get you information on time. The time for those reasons...and their solutions...is at first moment you realize you will not be able to meet deadline. It is essential to be pro-active. If there is likely to be a time problem, your boss wants to know about it at earliest possible moment. You demonstrate your understanding of importance of a project to your manager by being pro-active in this way. Show that you are aware of his/her schedule. Be as accountable as possible. You want project to succeed and, therefore, inform your boss of needed alteration in timing as soon as possible. You are simply altering a schedule, not trashing a project. Put it in perspective for success of project. Demonstrate some control of situation. You are offering a progress report, not a report of no progress.
| | WHEN NITTY-GRITTY DETAIL IS CRITICAL TO BUSINESS SUCCESSWritten by Noel Peebles
Many entrepreneurs fail to succeed because they won’t, or cannot, sweat details. Although it’s important to see big picture, it is equally important to get details right. Trouble is; many entrepreneurs view detail work as boring, time-consuming and petty. After all, they could be pulling off some exciting deals, instead of wasting time on “nitty-gritty” details. However, by not dotting i’s and crossing t’s, those very same entrepreneurs could be running a serious risk of having their wonderful deals come unstuck. The fact of matter is; even smallest business mistakes can be costly in terms of both time and money. These could be small (but critical) mistakes like: § Adding up money incorrectly. § Getting customer names, phone numbers and address details wrong. § Not getting a web site address correct in an advertisement or sales letter. § Not checking local bylaws, regulations etc. § Not understanding employment, health or safety regulations. § Not checking fine print on contracts, lease agreements etc. Yes, simple mistakes like these can be very costly. And, it’s not easy, when small business entrepreneurs are expected to know everything and be experts at everything. It’s a tough ask! Fortunately most entrepreneurs have a positive outlook on life and seem to bounce back after making mistakes. Although their mistakes may have been painful at time, most would put them down to experience and move on to next exciting task at hand. I guess we are all same. We like to focus on things we enjoy doing and things we are good at. It’s only natural when detail work is viewed as a chore and a bore.
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