(upbeat music)
- We all know managing deadlines
is crucial to project success.
Without a deadline in place, there'd be no sense
of urgency, direction or motivation to get anything done.
That's why scheduling due dates for tasks
and deliverables is a must.
Unfortunately, plenty of projects suffer delays,
missed deadlines and failure to follow up.
And when a project slows down or fails,
it can mean thousands of dollars down the drain
and precious hours spent for nothing.
If you're constantly missing your deadlines
or rushing at the last minute,
you can take the necessary steps
to make important changes to your system.
Before we dive into the how, let's take a moment
to discuss why deadlines get missed in the first place.
After all, understanding the driving force behind a delay
can help you fight proactively against it.
It's probably no surprise that procrastination plays
a big role in deadline management.
But why do we procrastinate?
Research indicates we tend to avoid taking action
if doing so brings up negative feelings, like anxiety,
self-doubt, or boredom.
With this being said, the first step
to meeting your deadlines is to treat them as sacred
and crucial to see them as a priority.
Now, let's get a little more tactical
and talk about ways to improve personal accountability.
How do you make sure you meet
your own project deadlines every time?
Here's six key steps you can implement
into your existing workflow:
Write your deliverables as action steps instead of vague
and generic phrases for added motivation.
If a task that's assigned to you involves
a few smaller steps, make a checklist
so you can manage your time and track progress more clearly.
You don't wanna make the mistake of setting a deadline
you can't meet.
Analyze the complexity of the work and estimate
a reasonable amount of time needed to get it done.
A work breakdown structure can really help you understand
the scope of work better so you can estimate time
and effort more accurately.
A cushion is just extra time you give yourself
in case there are delays, problems or issues
that could in any way bring the project to a sudden halt.
You don't wanna overdo it here, of course,
but building even a small cushion into your time estimates
makes it easier to meet your deadline,
even if things don't go as planned.
Hitting a deadline is a whole lot easier
when someone's holding you to it.
Whether it's your project lead, a client or a stakeholder,
these people will keep you accountable and motivate you
to meet your deadlines on schedule.
Multitasking may seem like getting more done,
but thinking about so many things at the same time
can leave you feeling burned out and disorganized.
Focus your time, effort and attention on just one task.
Once you've completed it, ticking it off your list
will motivate you to move on to the next one.
A simple reminder can go a long way
in helping you meet your deadline.
In TeamGantt, you can choose to receive task notifications
via email or a Slack integration,
and even sync project tasks to your favorite calendar apps
so nothing falls through the cracks.
If you're leading a project,
you've got more than your own deadlines to manage.
Here are a few easy ways
you can stay on top of deadlines in TeamGantt.
Milestones make it easier
to make sure your project stays on track.
In TeamGantt, milestones show up as yellow diamonds
on your Gantt chart so they're easy to spot in your plan.
Think of milestones as visual sign posts you need to hit
if you wanna reach your final deadline on time.
You can use milestones to spotlight important meetings,
approvals, decisions, or deliverables.
If you wanna stay one step ahead of task delays,
set aside time to review your Project Health Report
each morning.
This simple and powerful report gives you instant insight
into project status by breaking down tasks
that are on time, running behind and overdue.
That way you know exactly which tasks
you need to check up on and can address issues
before they throw the rest of your project off course.
If you're on TeamGantt's Advanced Plan with hourly estimates
and time tracking, you can see how actual work is tracking
against your projections.
This makes it easy to keep a close eye on tasks
that are taking longer than expected.
Look for the thin striped line that appears in the middle
of each task bar and pay attention to its color and length.
Here are the red flags to watch out for.
If the striped line is red,
this task or group is over budget.
More hours have been tracked
than were originally estimated for the task.
If the striped line is longer than the progress indicated
for a task, this task or group is at risk for overage
because it's blowing through budgeted hours faster
than actual progress is being made.
Of course, there are things beyond your control
that may hinder you or your team from meeting deadlines.
When this happens, the best thing any professional can do
is accept the mistake and learn from the experience.
Communicate the issue to your stakeholders
and offer solutions for how to make up for lost time.
Coming to the table with a plan for moving forward
is a good faith effort that shows leaders and stakeholders
you genuinely care about the project's success.
Wanna hit every deadline more easily?
With TeamGantt, you can create a clear project timeline
that's easy for everyone to track.
You'll have all the features you need to get ahead of delays
and make sure projects finish on time and under budget,
from drag and drop simplicity and team collaboration
to project reporting and workload management.
Best of all, it's all wrapped up in a simple
and intuitive interface your whole team will love.
And that's it for this video on meeting
and managing your project deadlines.
I hope you found it helpful.
If you did, I'd love it if you could return the favor
and hit the Like button.
and don't forget to subscribe to our channel
so you don't miss any of our videos.
Thanks for watching. I'll see you next time.
(upbeat music fades out)