1
00:00:03,440 --> 00:00:06,720
Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.

2
00:00:09,240 --> 00:00:14,120
Speaker 1: Good Morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.

3
00:00:14,760 --> 00:00:17,640
Speaker 1: Today's tip is about how you can make your deadlines

4
00:00:18,040 --> 00:00:22,680
Speaker 1: when you're depending on other people. Today's question comes from

5
00:00:22,720 --> 00:00:26,600
Speaker 1: a listener who runs a film festival. She has deadlines

6
00:00:26,640 --> 00:00:31,160
Speaker 1: for filmmakers, sponsors, rental providers, and so forth. In order

7
00:00:31,200 --> 00:00:34,440
Speaker 1: to meet her deadlines, she reports, she spends a lot

8
00:00:34,479 --> 00:00:38,080
Speaker 1: of time chasing people to meet theirs. I do make

9
00:00:38,120 --> 00:00:41,280
Speaker 1: sure to give buffers for those deadlines, but sometimes people

10
00:00:41,360 --> 00:00:45,880
Speaker 1: really miss the deadlines, despite phone calls, emails, and even

11
00:00:45,920 --> 00:00:49,480
Speaker 1: Facebook messages during the week following their miss deadlines. She says,

12
00:00:50,320 --> 00:00:53,199
Speaker 1: since I am coordinating so many people and from so

13
00:00:53,240 --> 00:00:56,000
Speaker 1: many different walks of life, I know that I cannot

14
00:00:56,080 --> 00:00:59,040
Speaker 1: expect them all to meet my deadlines. But that means

15
00:00:59,080 --> 00:01:01,880
Speaker 1: I don't meet my lines. I have a hard time

16
00:01:01,880 --> 00:01:04,480
Speaker 1: getting my work done as it requires their work to

17
00:01:04,520 --> 00:01:08,120
Speaker 1: be done on time. What would you suggest for handling

18
00:01:08,120 --> 00:01:10,800
Speaker 1: a team where their ability to get their work done

19
00:01:11,080 --> 00:01:14,960
Speaker 1: directly affects mine. I know this is a common question,

20
00:01:15,000 --> 00:01:18,319
Speaker 1: and not just for people running film festivals. Many of

21
00:01:18,400 --> 00:01:20,679
Speaker 1: us run big projects that require lots of people to

22
00:01:20,720 --> 00:01:25,760
Speaker 1: meet deadlines, and unfortunately, some people are much more reliable

23
00:01:25,840 --> 00:01:31,000
Speaker 1: than others. Sometimes there are good reasons and sometimes there

24
00:01:31,040 --> 00:01:34,200
Speaker 1: are not, But if you still want to be reliable,

25
00:01:34,520 --> 00:01:36,240
Speaker 1: you have to figure out what to do about it.

26
00:01:37,360 --> 00:01:39,880
Speaker 1: Our listener is doing the right thing by building in

27
00:01:39,920 --> 00:01:44,399
Speaker 1: a buffer and communicating frequently before the deadline. It's good

28
00:01:44,440 --> 00:01:46,760
Speaker 1: to reach out and see how things are going, and

29
00:01:46,800 --> 00:01:49,440
Speaker 1: if people are encountering any obstacles you should know about

30
00:01:50,240 --> 00:01:55,160
Speaker 1: when possible. It also recommends setting intermediate deadlines. People can

31
00:01:55,200 --> 00:01:57,480
Speaker 1: turn in portions of the work just so you can

32
00:01:57,600 --> 00:02:01,760
Speaker 1: check in on how the process is going. That said,

33
00:02:01,840 --> 00:02:05,160
Speaker 1: some people are still going to miss their deadlines and

34
00:02:05,200 --> 00:02:08,760
Speaker 1: the secondary real deadlines, so you need to do what

35
00:02:08,800 --> 00:02:12,320
Speaker 1: newspapers do. People might not turn in things, or a

36
00:02:12,400 --> 00:02:14,640
Speaker 1: story might not happen at the time it was supposed to,

37
00:02:15,240 --> 00:02:19,959
Speaker 1: but the newspaper never prints a blank page. Instead, there

38
00:02:19,960 --> 00:02:23,080
Speaker 1: are always some evergreen stories in the hopper that can

39
00:02:23,160 --> 00:02:27,760
Speaker 1: be run if there's an opening. Likewise, our festival director

40
00:02:27,800 --> 00:02:30,200
Speaker 1: can commission a bit more than she needs, or have

41
00:02:30,320 --> 00:02:33,040
Speaker 1: some work from previous years that could be shown again.

42
00:02:34,120 --> 00:02:39,120
Speaker 1: That way, she knows she's got enough material regardless, and

43
00:02:39,200 --> 00:02:43,520
Speaker 1: then play tough. It is totally fair to put into

44
00:02:43,520 --> 00:02:46,320
Speaker 1: people's contracts that if they don't turn their work in

45
00:02:46,360 --> 00:02:49,079
Speaker 1: on time, they will not be part of the festival.

46
00:02:49,960 --> 00:02:52,440
Speaker 1: People are free to show their own work whenever they'd like,

47
00:02:53,160 --> 00:02:54,919
Speaker 1: but if you'd like to be part of something bigger

48
00:02:54,919 --> 00:02:59,240
Speaker 1: than yourself, you have to play by group rules. A

49
00:02:59,240 --> 00:03:02,440
Speaker 1: lot of people learn this the hard way. I helped

50
00:03:02,480 --> 00:03:05,560
Speaker 1: with a choral composition contest for a few years, where

51
00:03:05,639 --> 00:03:09,200
Speaker 1: we once got a commission very late. We had to

52
00:03:09,240 --> 00:03:12,480
Speaker 1: spend a disproportionate amount of time that last week before

53
00:03:12,480 --> 00:03:16,799
Speaker 1: the concert learning that piece, and so the clause went

54
00:03:16,840 --> 00:03:20,959
Speaker 1: into the rules after that. Now, a film festival or

55
00:03:21,040 --> 00:03:24,079
Speaker 1: a choir competition is a little different from most projects

56
00:03:24,120 --> 00:03:26,520
Speaker 1: at work, but I think it still helps to think

57
00:03:26,520 --> 00:03:29,880
Speaker 1: through backup options. You can usually check in to see

58
00:03:29,880 --> 00:03:33,000
Speaker 1: if someone is falling behind, and if a team is

59
00:03:33,080 --> 00:03:36,160
Speaker 1: falling behind, then you need to think about option B.

60
00:03:37,480 --> 00:03:40,840
Speaker 1: Work hard to make option A work, but if it doesn't,

61
00:03:41,760 --> 00:03:45,920
Speaker 1: then what have an answer and you'll be more relaxed

62
00:03:45,920 --> 00:03:51,400
Speaker 1: in general. In the meantime, this is Laura, Thanks for listening,

63
00:03:52,000 --> 00:04:01,240
Speaker 1: and here's to making the most of our time. Hey, everybody,

64
00:04:01,440 --> 00:04:03,560
Speaker 1: I'd love to hear from you. You can send me

65
00:04:03,600 --> 00:04:07,240
Speaker 1: your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just connect with

66
00:04:07,280 --> 00:04:11,680
Speaker 1: me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at Before Breakfast Pod.

67
00:04:12,360 --> 00:04:16,719
Speaker 1: That's b E the number four, then Breakfast p o D.

68
00:04:17,560 --> 00:04:21,080
Speaker 1: You can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast podcast.

69
00:04:21,200 --> 00:04:24,040
Speaker 1: At i heeart media dot com that Before Breakfast is

70
00:04:24,080 --> 00:04:26,840
Speaker 1: spelled out with all the letters. Thanks so much, I

71
00:04:26,880 --> 00:04:34,960
Speaker 1: look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a

72
00:04:34,960 --> 00:04:38,240
Speaker 1: production of I heart Radio. For more podcasts from I

73
00:04:38,320 --> 00:04:42,160
Speaker 1: heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,

74
00:04:42,400 --> 00:04:44,280
Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.