You Are Asked To Meet Unreasonable Timelines. What To Do.
/I just had a quick “Can I bounce a situation off of you” request from one of my coaching clients. This is an agreement my clients and I have. They know that if I can I will drop everything for them for quick chats like this.
The Situation
It’s Friday morning and like many people one of the first things you do is check your work email. Yes, you know in the name of healthy work-life-balance and your blood pressure you should not.
One of the many overnight email you received (yes, you also check your email before bed… another bad habit), is from a peer in another division. They sent you a 30-page report that you didn’t know was coming and asked you to provide comments by 11:00AM this morning. Like many people, you have a full day of back-to-back meetings with your team, your boss (whose time is even more compressed than yours) and many other people who are counting on you.
What Should You Do?
Let’s be clear, they are not being fair to you and they are seriously compromising / hurting their own personal and professional reputation. Also, if you surprise one or more of your team and ask them to review the report by 11AM you risk being labelled as unreasonable as well… and that is a hit to your reputation.
At best, they should have let you know the report was coming. If you knew it was coming you could have set aside some time and planned for the review. This may be a review from you or you may have been able to prepare a few members from your team to each take a section to provide a quick but thorough review so you could meet their quick turn-around window.
As an Executive Coach and Leadership Trainer I would say there is no single perfect response, so let’s explore a few different responses. Then, if you ever find yourself in this spot you might use one or you might use a combination of two of them to best complement your situation.
Before we get going I want to highlight the word ‘response’ that I just used. Respond is good – do not react. Respond means you have thought through your options before you acted. React means you had an impulse and went with the first thing you thought of. Either way (respond versus react) your reputation will forever be impacted by what you do. Personally, I like to be accountable to my responses.
A Few Different Response Options:
If this is outside their typical pattern / emergency report and they need your help, I recommend doing anything you can for them. There are always emergencies when all hands need to be on deck.
If this is typical for them, if you tell them you / your team have only 30-minutes to spare to do a high-level review, be careful. They may intentionally or unintentionally give their leaders the impression that you / your team reviewed it and only had a little feedback. This may come back on you a week, month or year from now.
If this is typical for them, let them know you / your team have only 30-minutes to spare and ask them to highlight the section that they think is most important or time sensitive. I would also formally tell them how much time you need to do a comprehensive review and when you could do it. This way you are helping them now, clearly putting responsibility on their shoulders, and you are training them (hopefully) to give you more time next time.
If you can’t meet their timelines, tell them as soon as possible. As before, I would also formally tell them how much time you need to do a comprehensive review and when you could do it. Again, hopefully you are putting responsibility on their shoulders and training them to give you more time or more warning next time. Depending on the corporate culture and political atmosphere at your organization, you may want to give your leader a quick heads-up. But, be sure you sound rational and thoughtful not agitated and critical when you speak with your boss.
Let’s face it, as a leader you are always being watched and you are always impacting the morale, motivation and respect of your team… and from your team. You set the tone for your workspace and those around you. My advice is to always be aware of this and be mindful of the impact you are having.
I hope this article will help you manage a difficult request being made of you / your team in the future.
Bruce
An other article you might like.
Read How to Prepare for a Job Interview Level 1
About Bruce and Bruce Mayhew Consulting.
Bruce is Corporate Trainer, Keynote Speaker and Executive Coach.
Bruce Mayhew Consulting specializes in customized Email Etiquette Training, Leadership & New Leadership Development, Generational Differences, Time Management Training and other soft skills training solutions in Toronto and across Canada. Bruce is also an Executive Coach to a few select clients.
Bruce is an experienced motivational speaker in Toronto and has inspired audiences across Canada and within the USA and the UK. Bruce works hard to always make sure your training event, conference, retreat, or annual general meeting is a success.
