Work gripe - getting chased before a deadline

[Mummy08m]

This isn't a real problem just a little gripe.

I'm a teacher and our report deadlines are usually at 10.30am on a Tuesday.

I always get them in on time. I genuinely can't remember ever being late with them, certainly not in the last 4 years at least, if ever. I have several classes and I pace myself so that I do some on the weekend, some on the Monday, and the last few on the Tuesday morning before 10.30am. I can't do them much earlier, usually, because I need to include up to date info like the latest homework I've marked or whatever.

However, the data manager at my school sends out these chasing emails before the deadline! Today I get this at 8.50am:

Dear Mummy08m,
Please can I politely remind you that grades and comments are required by 10.30am today. We have noticed comments missing for [specific one of my classes]. If you are in the process of entering these comments [er, yes, obviously I am] please kindly ignore this message.
If you are not going to meet the deadline please kindly let me know when you'll complete them by.
[Data manager's signature]

Aibu for being made grumpy about this? Every single time! I always get them in by 10.30am! Sometimes I'm literally clicking submit at 10.25am, but it always gets done.

If you need them in by 8.50am, tell me the deadline is 8.50am. Don't tell me the deadline is 10.30am and then nag me for not getting them in by 8.50am!

I'm going to "kindly ignore this message", obviously. But I'm grumpy. Aibu for being grumpy?!

I better go finish them off now instead of ranting on mumsnet lol. But still. So grumpy.

My guess is - bureaucracy rules and a colleague of yours is persistently late but they figure they can’t email just one person so they email everyone

I'm a data manager and I send these emails

I have to send generic ones as unfortunately I'm not a mind reader and don't know which of the staff are busy entering their info 2 hours before the deadline and which have totally forgotten.

I know some staff are never late, but I have to include them as if I didn't and you WERE late I would get it in the neck for not chasing.

Nobody wins in these scenarios 😂

Might be an automated reminder email set to go out weekly?

A deadline is a deadline; it shouldn't matter if it's met 7 days or 1 minute beforehand.

Chasing is usually done when something is LATE.

OP I think you’re being a bit unreasonable to be grumpy. Don’t be one of those teachers who acts or talks like their time is so much more valuable, and their methods of working so much superior, to that of the support staff. Especially considering the support staff may be earning little more than minimum wage for their efforts; proper ‘data manager’ salaries are rare in education.

Do you know how many of your colleagues are routinely late? It can be an endemic problem with teachers; many are likely to need the reminder. Do you know how frequently there are system issues? The fact that the deadline was not midnight on Monday might be intended primarily to give time to notice and fix glitches in completed report sets. Can you absolutely guarantee that there would never be any circumstance where you would have incomplete reports first thing in the morning and fail to finish? Unless you can, you may need the reminder one day.

I suspect what you received was a kind of mail merge based on a report run to highlight empty fields, that is then sent personally to each relevant staff member. So it’s not actually ‘personal’ and is the most efficient use of the data manger’s time and skills. She is literally telling you that she wishes to be kind and inoffensive in her message too, even if the expression is a little clumsy.

If your hod knows that you are reliable with your reports, that’s the most important thing- your hod should be the one to ensure you are noticed and praised appropriately.

Thanks all for being understanding haha I know it's not a genuine problem.

Absolutely not suggesting we do away with admin staff, schools very much would ground to a halt as pp said!

I guess I'd just prefer a blanket all-staff email "reminder to everyone that reports are due at 10.30 today if you haven't done them already" rather than one addressed specifically to me.

Tuesday is one of my days off so I always do leave some for Tuesday morning when I know I'm less rushed. I finished them while dd and I were having breakfast and she was watching TV (they had been roughly drafted yesterday and I just needed to type them into proper words). I do it this way every time.

Anyway I wouldn't send any of these snippy responses that some pp have suggested but they have made me feel much better reading them, so thank you :-D

Yeah this is my view tbh but I appreciate that's black and white thinking. My view is if you say the deadline is 10.30, then 10.29 is on time, and 10.31 is late!

Don’t be one of those teachers who acts or talks like their time is so much more valuable, and their methods of working so much superior, to that of the support staff.

I assure you I have never done this, and I'm still friends with a couple of support staff from my last school, even. I know they do a tough job, probably tougher than mine, and often for less pay

I’m glad to hear that 😊

This sort of thing annoys me. I'll get an email saying I need to complete an online training course by x date. I'll then get 4 reminders before the date pointing out that I haven't done it yet. If it was one reminder I'd suck it up but it's one every few days until it's completed.

It's the Libra in me - fairness.

Not half as annoying as system that do this, AND silently email your line manager noting that you haven't done the task either, so you get in the neck from them too! 😡

Your husband is right and this sort of thing is standard I the corporate world. It even says if you're doing it sorry to bother you!

At my organisation there is one department that sends e-mail reminders weeks before their deadline and marks them urgent. Just set an earlier bloody deadline. It doesn't work either - there's a sort of 'boy who cried wolf' effect and everyone just ignores them.

YANBU - I would seethe at that message. A reminder email to everyone concerned would be ok imho, but the tone of this one is so passive aggressive.

I really, really wouldn't respond like that.

It's very annoying for OP, but as she has never missed the deadline, she can't get into any trouble over it. And the email does say to ignore it if it's in hand. So I'd roll my eyes, ignore, keep getting them done on time and tell myself that it's always better when pointless management techniques land on something I'm doing fine and can be safely ignored. They need to be seen to be doing something; don't deflect it somewhere where it might actually really cause you a problem.

DC are on a few sports teams and we often get messages like this. I do understand why it's done but still find it annoying, though I also know at least some of the teams are staffed by volunteers and I am very grateful for all they do.

Example text:
Monday 11am - "Game is on at x time on Saturday. Can all players please let me know if they're available by Wednesday 5pm."

Tuesday 8.30 am - "Reminder, we are still waiting on the availability of some of the girls,"

Me...huh?

It would make more sense to set the original deadline to reply to an earlier time I think. Otherwise you're giving people 2.5 days to respond but start harrying them shortly afterwards. Just tell people to respond re availability by Tuesday morning!

I recently had experience that when I didn’t send the very gentle reminder emails - it was my fault they didn’t do it.

we don’t exclude if we waiting on a group of responses, even if most of them always respond - we would just send one email to all.

I think they are trying to be helpful but the way to do that would be to send a general reminder email to everyone who is writing reports rather than singling people out and telling them they are being watched. There’s a distinct whiff of ‘I’m not sure if other adults can be trusted to do basics of their jobs so I’ll make it clear I’m monitoring them’ which would piss me off.

I’d reply and say, ‘Thank you for your email. Just wanted to say that I always stagger my report writing this way so please don’t be concerned if they seem unfinished. I can confirm these will be completed for the deadline of 10.30.’

Although it says you can ignore if you’re still in the middle of doing them, the person sending these stupid messages could do with some tips on how to chase people in a way that isn’t causing irritation.

I have to do this - not in teaching but in another public sector role.

Some people like reminders for prioritising.

Some people are not organised and actually need reminding.

Some people take the piss and will try and flex the deadlines as much as possible.

Therefore, I send reminders for the following reasons...

Any issues can be flagged early and resolved before the deadline. On the back of those emails, I often get responses with queries or little questions.

If someone is late submitting and there are issues with the quality, I have a paper trail to confirm I have sent reminders and offered support.

I've done this long enough, with a wide enough range of people, to know that if i I don't send them, it will bite me in the arse later down the line.

I get those reminders about a biweekly deadline at work and I am pretty certain they are even automated despite the fact that they are personalized.

I don’t even bother opening the emails. I just see the subject heading, get the message that yes there is a deadline, and continue on with my work.

Why was it your fault the work didn't get done? Doesn't that person have responsibility for meeting a deadline? Did they come back to you and chastise you for not reminding them?

I can see why you feel irritated as you always complete on time but unfortunately there will always be people who forget or leave it to the last minute. The message going to all helps keep things civilised.

I'm a lawyer and we have to complete monthly MI returns for clients. We are sent them to check and approve/ amend a week in advance. We get a reminder two days before then the morning is due and an astonishing amount of people haven't started looking at it by then. Without the prompts it would be even worse.

As someone whose entire job is to ensure that 'shit gets done', in that situation I would have brought back the deadline by the amount of time it takes for you to get it done.

That way, the chasers can start immediately after the deadline and anyone not already submitted still has time to get it done.

I'd also word it very, very differently, certainly acknowledge and thank everyone who always gets it done on time. Like a decent human being.

When I was at school, and listening to careers advice, I never in a million years ever thought it was possible to earn a very good living, from a good to work for corporate with excellent benefits and only ever get other people to do stuff. Amazing.