WEBVTT - When other people make you late

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.

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<v Speaker 1>Good Morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.

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<v Speaker 1>Today's tip is about how you can make your deadlines

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<v Speaker 1>when you're depending on other people. Today's question comes from

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<v Speaker 1>a listener who runs a film festival. She has deadlines

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<v Speaker 1>for filmmakers, sponsors, rental providers, and so forth. In order

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<v Speaker 1>to meet her deadlines, she reports, she spends a lot

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<v Speaker 1>of time chasing people to meet theirs. I do make

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<v Speaker 1>sure to give buffers for those deadlines, but sometimes people

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<v Speaker 1>really miss the deadlines, despite phone calls, emails, and even

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<v Speaker 1>Facebook messages during the week following their miss deadlines. She says,

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<v Speaker 1>since I am coordinating so many people and from so

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<v Speaker 1>many different walks of life, I know that I cannot

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<v Speaker 1>expect them all to meet my deadlines. But that means

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<v Speaker 1>I don't meet my lines. I have a hard time

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<v Speaker 1>getting my work done as it requires their work to

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<v Speaker 1>be done on time. What would you suggest for handling

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<v Speaker 1>a team where their ability to get their work done

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<v Speaker 1>directly affects mine. I know this is a common question,

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<v Speaker 1>and not just for people running film festivals. Many of

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<v Speaker 1>us run big projects that require lots of people to

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<v Speaker 1>meet deadlines, and unfortunately, some people are much more reliable

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<v Speaker 1>than others. Sometimes there are good reasons and sometimes there

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<v Speaker 1>are not, But if you still want to be reliable,

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<v Speaker 1>you have to figure out what to do about it.

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<v Speaker 1>Our listener is doing the right thing by building in

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<v Speaker 1>a buffer and communicating frequently before the deadline. It's good

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<v Speaker 1>to reach out and see how things are going, and

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<v Speaker 1>if people are encountering any obstacles you should know about

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<v Speaker 1>when possible. It also recommends setting intermediate deadlines. People can

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<v Speaker 1>turn in portions of the work just so you can

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<v Speaker 1>check in on how the process is going. That said,

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<v Speaker 1>some people are still going to miss their deadlines and

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<v Speaker 1>the secondary real deadlines, so you need to do what

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<v Speaker 1>newspapers do. People might not turn in things, or a

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<v Speaker 1>story might not happen at the time it was supposed to,

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<v Speaker 1>but the newspaper never prints a blank page. Instead, there

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<v Speaker 1>are always some evergreen stories in the hopper that can

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<v Speaker 1>be run if there's an opening. Likewise, our festival director

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<v Speaker 1>can commission a bit more than she needs, or have

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<v Speaker 1>some work from previous years that could be shown again.

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<v Speaker 1>That way, she knows she's got enough material regardless, and

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<v Speaker 1>then play tough. It is totally fair to put into

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<v Speaker 1>people's contracts that if they don't turn their work in

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<v Speaker 1>on time, they will not be part of the festival.

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<v Speaker 1>People are free to show their own work whenever they'd like,

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<v Speaker 1>but if you'd like to be part of something bigger

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<v Speaker 1>than yourself, you have to play by group rules. A

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<v Speaker 1>lot of people learn this the hard way. I helped

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<v Speaker 1>with a choral composition contest for a few years, where

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<v Speaker 1>we once got a commission very late. We had to

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<v Speaker 1>spend a disproportionate amount of time that last week before

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<v Speaker 1>the concert learning that piece, and so the clause went

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<v Speaker 1>into the rules after that. Now, a film festival or

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<v Speaker 1>a choir competition is a little different from most projects

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<v Speaker 1>at work, but I think it still helps to think

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<v Speaker 1>through backup options. You can usually check in to see

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<v Speaker 1>if someone is falling behind, and if a team is

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<v Speaker 1>falling behind, then you need to think about option B.

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<v Speaker 1>Work hard to make option A work, but if it doesn't,

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<v Speaker 1>then what have an answer and you'll be more relaxed

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<v Speaker 1>in general. In the meantime, this is Laura, Thanks for listening,

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<v Speaker 1>and here's to making the most of our time. Hey, everybody,

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<v Speaker 1>I'd love to hear from you. You can send me

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<v Speaker 1>your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just connect with

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<v Speaker 1>me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at Before Breakfast Pod.

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<v Speaker 1>That's b E the number four, then Breakfast p o D.

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<v Speaker 1>You can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast podcast.

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<v Speaker 1>At i heeart media dot com that Before Breakfast is

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<v Speaker 1>spelled out with all the letters. Thanks so much, I

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<v Speaker 1>look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a

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<v Speaker 1>production of I heart Radio. For more podcasts from I

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<v Speaker 1>heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,

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<v Speaker 1>or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.