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.

That's quite different from OP being personally addressed and the sneder identifying specific comments which are missing from a report NOT YET DUE.

*sender.
But maybe 'sneder' could be the new name for an over zealous sender of gentle reminders.

If I didn’t have support staff I wouldn’t be able to do my job. I don’t know how to do most of the tasks they cover for me. Sure, I would eventually learn them, but it would be incredibly inefficient. They are invaluable.

I hate anything that is listed as a ‘polite reminder’. it’s passive aggressive and normally unnecessary!

The wording is annoying, but it's aimed at other people, not you. It's a template email, so shouldn't be taken personally.

I'd read that as an automatic reminder. Are you entering the reports into a computer database? And do they arrive at a set time? In which case I'd suspect it's totally automatic.

But someone has manually edited the template to include which class the OP had not completed comments for. That's a pretty specific template.

It’s just a reminder cuz some people do forget

Again...the OP's reminder included details of which class she still needed to do. A programmer must have invested some time in creating such a specific automatic letter.

Isn't it just! Schools like to use it in newsletters to parents "kindly don't park in the kiss and drop lane". "Please" is just fine and much less PA (although parents who park inconsiderately perhaps don't deserve the please and the kindly is fine).

But on the point of being chased before a deadline, I don't like that either. I had it with a non work thing, being chased "urgently" in August for something which needed to be done by 1 October. I was annoyed about this particular thing for other reasons but that made me think bugger that and I didn't do it at all.

Someone has to create a template email or letter. It's no excuse.

But they are probably sending it to everyone. Not sitting there fuming about OP.

You do. Great. Unfortunately I spend far too much nipping the heels of people whose time management is dreadful ("ooh Im snowed under..." having spent half an hour draped over someone's desk, wittering about cricket/football or other subject du jour, taking long lunches and buggering off early) or other reason.

It's my job to chase, it's your job to do. Personally, it's not something I enjoy either.

But what's the purpose? Say the school has 50 teachers. The data manager is manually editing the template letter to include specific classes that each teacher still needs to do. All before the deadline.
It sounds very inefficient.

My friend does your colleague's job and has said that many teachers fail to meet the deadlines. I imagine they are sending out a standard email (with minor personalisation) to every teacher - without any thought to your previous reliability. I wouldn't take it personally.

YABU. It'll either be an automated email or an email they send to everyone. You may get yours' in on time, but I'd bet lots of others don't. It's easier to email the same reminder to everyone rather than just pick out the ones most likely to forget.

But are you chasing people before they've met a deadline?

It's normal to send a reminder before the deadline. After all a deadline is the last possible submission date/time, not a target.

That’s not remotely a chasing email! It’s a reminder.

Probably not. If the data manager is competent, they'll have it all automated or use templates etc. Either way, the time taken to send automated emails is virtually zero, and to resend the same templates they've sent previously, is just a few minutes.

I would never take it right to the wire like that. What if something goes wrong (internet down, home emergency etc)?

Not necessarily, we receive automated reminders to complete data entries. The system pulls the data, highlights what’s missing and auto sends a reminder listing said O/S items.

Very simple program to build and an indication of a robust data management process.

Why anyone would get their knickers in a twist over something like this is beyond me.

Why anyone would get their knickers in a twist over something like this is beyond me.

OP did say it was just a gripe thus I presume her knickers remain untwisted.

Slightly off point but how often do you have to do these reports? Every week? For all the kids you teach? Or is it less often than that? (Just interested in finding out how much admin there is in teaching - thanks!)

I really wouldn't let it get to you. I work in a role where I frequently have to chase people. There are repeat offenders, usually predictably the same people, and we're all human and on occasion even the most diligent are late with things or don't complete a task.

It would better to just remind everyone of the approaching deadline though. And to set a deadline which allows a few days for chasing the stragglers. Because there's always someone who is late!