Ever been promised that delivery of a piece of work and nothing was done? Been let down on completion?
When given the piece of work, many elements can get in the way of progress and completion.
A means of guaranteeing or increasing the likelihood of completing for a piece of work or a promise from a supplier to produce something by a particular date – do the following:
1. Gain Clarity – Ask question so you fully understand what has been agreed. Seek to understand what the final product will look like? Seek ‘comprehension’ means you should be able to easily pass on the work to someone else and be able to field any question they may ask.
2. Establish timescale – Here you are attempting to set milestones for the time and date to review progress but also to agree a completion date. You will use resources available to you such as your availability in your diary and people-resources you may need to tap into? Once you have these, share them with all involved particularly the person allocating you the work.
3. Do it – Here you do the work ensuring you constantly provide updates, constantly seeking further clarity and fixing timescales
4. Celebrate – on completion advertise your success and create a blueprint in people minds that you are a finisher and a safe pair of hands.
Photo credit: HVargas / Foter.com / CC BY-SA