A team member misses a critical content deadline. How do you ensure the project stays on track?

At Oracle University, we have the philosophy of not panicking. Once an editor had missed her schedule and forgot to download her files on time. The publisher asked for the files the next day, and the job wasn't done. Any delay in the production schedule has a cascading effect on the publishing date of a course, and we couldn't let that happen. The rest of us divided the files among ourselves and delivered the job in 2 hours. Nobody was penalized, nobody was overworked, and because we work as a team/family, this minor slip wasn't held as a sword over the editor's head. We have learned to chill about things like that. Every situation can be overcome with some cool-headed thinking. The world hasn't come to an end just yet.

Ah, the joy of a missed deadline. First, take a moment to appreciate how wonderfully it has disrupted your content project. Evaluate just how spectacularly this delay has thrown off your timeline, scrambled everyone’s workload, and muddled the final delivery to stakeholders or clients. Now, with your unmatched skill, adjust the timeline as if it were a fine art, reassign tasks with the flair of a maestro, and reprioritize like you’re casually fixing a grand fiasco. Your deft handling of this charming interruption will seamlessly integrate it into the ongoing saga of your project’s success.

Mistakes happen, we’re all human. Oracle’s shared experience of not panicking, exemplifies deftly how a team approach can recover quickly. Assessing the situation for a course correction rather than on the individual (s) who may’ve been involved, provides a small window for a brief strategic response planning and quick implementation.

What's a Plan B? Deadlines are non-negotiable, but unforeseen challenges are inevitable. When a team member faces a setback, it is imperative to pick it up as a collective hurdle. Assess the impact, redistribute workload if necessary, and maintain project momentum. Post-mortem analysis is valuable, but we can keep that for later! A united front and proactive problem-solving are the key!

Imprevistos acontecem, principalmente quando trabalhamos com prazos muito apertados. O ideal é que o cronograma já inclua uma margem de erro, caso algum contratempo aconteça. Principalmente porque estamos falando de marketing de conteúdo, feito por criadores que ,essencialmente, se identificam com sua comunidade por mostrar sua realidade. E em toda realidade podem acontecer contratempos que atrasem sua entrega. O importante é se planejar antes que ele aconteça.

Entender o porquê do prazo perdido, é muito mais importante do que o atraso em si. A competência de um membro da equipe é medida pela sua capacidade de solucionar os mais diversos problemas. Mas, se algo parecia simples e não foi cumprido, cabe ao Gestor identificar uma possível sobrecarga de trabalho em uma conversa franca!

I'd add that approaching the conversation with empathy and curiosity can make all the difference. Instead of just focusing on the missed deadline, ask your team member about any challenges they faced and how you can support them moving forward. This not only addresses the immediate issue but also fosters a culture of trust and collaboration.

A good manager always helps instead of blame shame. Honestly if it gets to an “oh s&$@“ moment, there is no one person at fault, that’s a team fail.

Estar junto das pessoas pra entender os motivos dos atrasos é fundamental para que esses atrasos não se repitam com frequência. Levar em conta os fatores humanos, de capacitação e dedicação à outras tarefas pode ser um bom caminho. Muitas vezes as pessoas atrasam suas entregas por estarem sobrecarregadas com outras demandas internas ou externas e a conta simplesmente não fecha. Pra que esse momento não chegue, é importante um acompanhamento constante e escuta ativa.

In addition to redistributing tasks, it's crucial to identify any bottlenecks and address underlying issues that caused the missed deadline. Communicate openly with your team about the challenges faced and gather their input on potential solutions. This collaborative approach not only helps in finding the best way to reallocate tasks but also fosters a sense of ownership and accountability among team members.

Break down the missed content into smaller, manageable sections. Assign these sections to multiple team members to expedite completion.

Acho importante distribuir de forma inteligente o trabalho em equipe, pensando em seus processos e fluxos. Há pessoas com mais facilidade e familiaridade com determinados processos e outras pessoas com outros diferentes. Entender e distribuir tarefas pensando nessas skills vai melhorar o andamento geral de tarefas, entendendo que cada um pode trabalhar melhor naquilo que tem mais domínio.

Redistributing the task is the immediate action that follows a missing deadline. It's imperative to make your team understand the need and urgency of the matter. Redistribution of tasks should be equivalent to delegation of responsibility. When a member misses the deadline it becomes the team's responsibility to fill in. It is not an easy task if your team is not coherent. So prepping your team to be ready for taking ownership should be done beforehand.

Open dialogue is the cornerstone of effective project management. By creating a safe space for team members to discuss challenges, we can uncover the root causes of missed deadlines and implement preventive measures. A constructive conversation should focus on understanding the obstacles the team member faces. This could involve: Active listening: Giving the team member undivided attention to understand their perspective. Empathy: Showing understanding and support for their situation. Problem-solving: Collaboratively brainstorming solutions to prevent similar issues in the future.

You can integrate a proactive approach to this by; - Conducting a quick, focused meeting to reassess task priorities and redistribute workloads if necessary. - Encouraging open communication to understand any underlying issues and offer support. - Utilizing tools like project management software can help visualize new timelines and keep everyone aligned.

Aqui é importante ter a mente aberta para entender quais os motivos foram cruciais para o atraso primário e fazer com que eles não se repitam. Reajustar a rota, adaptar demandas, realinhar objetivos e estender prazos não necessariamente são sinônimos de fracasso. Pelo contrário, é fundamental o ajuste do processo pra que o melhor resultado seja alcançado.

Redestribuição de tarefas pode ser uma solução eficaz em casos de prazos perdidos. Mas é importante não enxergar isso como um fracasso e aprender com os erros para que eles não se repitam.

Utilize any buffer time initially planned into the project schedule to accommodate this delay without affecting the final deadline.

Communication is key! It's essential to keep stakeholders and the creative team informed and on the same page when we need to adjust our plans. Also, it's vital to be honest and realistic. This might involve engaging with stakeholders from other projects to coordinate priorities and deadlines. In my experience, building strong relationships with our team and clients makes all the difference.

Be prepared! Getting ahead of project deadlines with frequent check-ins, clear expectations, open communication, transparent feedback, and partnerships will hold a team accountable for their work. As a leader, make yourself available. Be the kind of manager someone feels comfortable to come to when they have a full plate and need help.

It’s important to empower the team by instilling a sense of ownership in them. They will then own deadlines. I like to let my team tell me where they want me to jump in, or when they want me to push back or intervene. All, of course, while keeping a close eye on what’s happening, so I can preempt and course correct if things look like they’re going off track. Over time, I’ve had to course correct fewer times.

Missing deadlines is quite natural because we are all humans. To prevent, making use of technology that helps us stay on top of things can be a great idea. Also, when technology reminds a human, the chances of taking things personally is lesser in comparison to another human (team members or supervisors or tls or Tms reminding) by doing this, tracking and monitoring progress becomes easier and efficient.

Para evitar a perda de prazos, é importante que a liderança faça um acompanhamento de perto, de forma a antecipar e prever qualquer obstáculo futuro. A responsabilidade não deve recair somente sobre um membro da equipe. Pessoalmente, gosto de usar ferramentas como o Trello para um melhor gerenciamento das fases de produção.

Along with providing training and certification benefits to the associate, it's important to share your knowledge among team members on the new concept you just completed working. It not only helps with team building, also helps with keeping your team ready for next task. Addition to this, celebrating even the small achievements will keep the team motivated.

Assessing the impact of missed deadline, providing support the team members is most crucial. I would like to have dialogue with the member and help him out and make sure he doesn’t miss another deadline and the project is completed on time…

Quando alguém perde um prazo e impacta a cadeia de produção de uma equipe, o que menos ajuda é cobrança e pressão. Acredite, a autocobrança já existe. Nessas situações, o apoio é essencial, e o foco deve ser identificar o que deu errado para garantir que não se repita no futuro.

As months or years pass by, we assume the team members are capable of managing their tasks within deadlines. If a team member misses the deadline on a crucial project, let's deal with it more professionally. People are people in the first place. Instead of always waiting for the teammate to give a followup, the leads can check on the progress of the task. Timely reminders can also help. If there are multiple projects to be done, the leads can inform about the task in priority. Even a sticky note can help a lot. If you find your team member missed the deadline, try to divide or take up the task. Ask why they missed the deadline. If there's any chance you can reschedule the task, do it. And reassign the task to the same member.

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It''s important to note that a brief one-on-one with the team member can uncover any underlying issues and provide valuable insights for future planning. Encourage the team to share workload updates regularly through a simple dashboard or quick check-ins. This transparency can preemptively identify potential bottlenecks. Lastly, celebrate small wins along the way to keep morale high and remind everyone of the collective goal.

Have fallbacks. Deadlines will be missed, it is a fact of life. Sometimes because of unforeseen circumstances, sometimes because you're working with *that* team member who provides invaluable contributions but has a Douglas Adams approach to deadlines. So you know in any project there will be a need for last-minute changes. Be ready for them, either with evergreen content, or easily developed last minute pieces (which can work out great, as nothing is as topical as the article you thought up in relation to something that hadn't even happened yet when the project was started). Also, be willing to adjust your project parameters. Communicate with your internal and external stakeholders and ensure they see the value of flexibility.

Um bom briefing é fundamental para que erros no processo sejam evitados, assim como o acompanhamento de todas as fases da produção. Em uma equipe não existe 'eu', e sim 'nós'. Por isso é importante manter todos motivados no espírito de coletividade, e diminuir a pressão e cobrança.

My personal opinion on this is that never ever pressurize content creators in your team to do things 'faster'. Such additional pressure is detrimental to their mental health and I am saying this because I used to be a content creator too before I started my agency. Make sure your team members know that you trust them 100% and that delays are only natural given it is a human being which is creating content instead of some generative AI tool.