How can I address colleagues leaving tasks until the last minute?

[Aveno432]

I work in a senior position in a small organisation. I'm becoming increasingly tired at how last minute tasks are done. Everything done by deadlines but it's always very last minute which causes stress and and things being done in a rush. I have explicitly said this so many times but things don't change as people are inundated. As someone who works more quickly and more in advance I find it infuriating but I recognise I'm not the most patient with this so perhaps it's my problem. I'm often waiting for other people to do their elements before I can start mine and it causes stress. How do I change this or drip feed the impact?

Can you make the deadlines early enough to allow for your element to be completed in a timely manner?

Hang on you said people are inundated so surely that’s why everything is done last minute?!

Tip: don’t inundate your team with work and complain that despite that they still meet your deadlines! 👀

We're all inundated. Me included. It's not my choice that work is busy - We're in a sector that's lacking money which I can't change.

Even if they were not inundated, I suspect some of your colleagues will still not plan ahead and do things last minute. Though if you are adequately staffed, you will get less of it.

Unfortunately no recruitment plan will identify those who cannot meet deadlines even with adequate resources.

I can for the bits I set but not for the bits not led by me

I’m not following - if the work is being done by the deadline set (by you?) and it’s to an appropriate standard, surely gbjs is just something you have to accept as part and parcel of being in an underfunded and overworked sector?

‘Hi Bob, I know the deadline is 5 August but in order for Jane to do her bit she needs it by 2nd August’

My work is like that and it's because there aren't enough people to do all the work. If you are at senior level, put forward a paper to let owners/directors know the position and recommend they employ more staff.

I am someone who can only work to a tight deadline, which I know frustrates my team (luckily for me, I am the boss). Set the deadline a few days earlier and give yourself breathing space.

I wish I could just accept it but I just find it stressful as I'm always waiting for others to finish their parts before I can complete mine. Then I have to rush. When something is a 5 minute job I'd just do it when received to avoid adding it to my long list of jobs but I can wait days or weeks for that sane 5 minute task from others.

You have said they are meeting the deadlines, just not in advance of the deadline and your preference is to do things in advance.

You need to recognise that not everyone works that way and some people organise their work load to deadlines not in advance of them.

Unless you are the boss and you can impose new deadlines I don't see how you can change how people work.

There's no money for staff and the proposal has been put in several times

That’s fine if you have one 5 minute job. If I attended to every 5 minute job as it arrived on my desk I’d get nothing else done, not least because all too often a 5 minute job isn’t actually 5 minutes. I also can have back to back meetings that all generate their own “5 minute” jobs. So I schedule admin time in my diary to work through the miscellaneous tasks when I can give them my full attention.

It works for me, I never miss a deadline and work is done to a high standard. You may need to either tolerate others working habits, or set deadlines to suit your own way of working.

That sounds like poor project management though - you can’t reasonably expect people to prioritise doing a task before the deadline that’s agreed. The deadline for their part should be set to give the next person in the process enough time to complete theirs. Who is setting the deadlines?

I suspect my manager feels like this about me at the minute but I just have so much in my inbox that I find I am doing everything last minute. I’ve never worked like this in any other role but I am completely swamped and never seem to get on top of it. I suspect if you have multiple people working like this then they are probably the same.

I don’t understand how you have grounds to complain if the deadlines that are set are being met. I plan my work based on the deadlines I’m given, not on second guessing a fantasy alternative deadline that my boss might be telepathically communicating to me 🤨

Some people just work best like that. I know Myers-Briggs is like horoscopes for business, but doing the assessments as a group did help me realise that people all work differently, and that's ok.

Do your colleagues know that working like this stresses you out? In the technical world we have regular "retrospectives" to help us learn how to work better together, would it be worth doing something like that in your team?

This is a you problem. The work is being done by the deadline so there is no issue with your colleagues.

Quite frankly, if I was your colleague, I would be quite resentful towards you trying to “change” anything when you’re not my manager, I am inundated but I am delivering everything by the deadline.

Thanks for helping me see this is a me problem. I'll try and work on it.

I have ADHD - I will always do my tasks by the deadline, but very rarely beforehand. What is the point in a deadline if you need it earlier. Change the process.

I have ADHD. If I am tasked a job that takes 5 mins, I will probably start it roughly 5 mins before it’s due.

If you doing your work is contingent on them doing theirs, move their deadline up.

I don't always have the authority to change deadlines or processes. It depends on the task.

Sounds like poor task and deadline management. You need to set deadlines that work for everyone. Are you being clear enough what tasks are priorities?

Then you will need to accept that’s how your colleagues work.

If they’re meeting the deadlines set for them, they aren’t actually doing anything wrong. if the deadlines mean that you then can’t do your bit, speak to your manager / whoever sets the deadlines as it’s a deadline issue not a colleague issue.

I think you need to accept that's how some people work. If the deadlines mean the next bit of work puts you under pressure that's what you need to address as it may show the original deadlines are unrealistic.

but if people are given a deadline, it's human nature that at least some will not complete until that deadline. Can't criticise them if the work is done by the deadline