Here’s How You Can Set Deadlines As A Business Owner

Be it any business, deadlines are important. Entrepreneurs who run small businesses realize the challenges they might face when setting deadlines for their employees. The reason is that, as an entrepreneur, you will have to set various deadlines to ensure that your business operates in the right manner and you keep your customers satisfied.

However, sometimes a bit of miscommunication or acting unprofessionally can push things the wrong way. Therefore, you need to fix your deadlines, communicate the deadlines to the employee properly, and handle things professionally so that the deadlines work just fine for your business and your employees as well. Below are some tips on how you can set deadlines as a business owner.

Set Reasonable Deadlines

The first and foremost thing that you need to keep in mind while setting deadlines is reasonable. Fixing unattainable deadlines will not only frustrate your employees but you as well. That will put the working environment under stress. Calculate the average time that your employees take to accomplish a similar task. Use this as a basis to pick reasonable deadlines.

If you set a deadline and ask your employees to work more or work faster than they usually do or are capable of, a dramatic increase will leave them at their wit’s end. For example, you can ask your employees to work 10% faster instead of asking them to work 50% faster. Based on that, you can calculate the time for the deadline.

Involve Those Who are Interested

Every project is different from the others, and people working on it should know about it. Therefore, it would always be in your best interests if you could involve people who have thorough knowledge about a project or are willing to participate in accomplishing a particular target. Without that, setting a deadline becomes difficult.

Have a detailed discussion with workers who have been assigned to fulfill a deadline. You can hold a brainstorming session where you can ask the employees for their ideas about accomplishing a task. You can also talk with senior members in your company who can develop some constructive ideas about how to attain a deadline you have in mind. It’s all about collective responsibility. Nothing great can be achieved individually.

Communicate the Deadlines

After you confirm the deadline, hold a meeting with the employees involved in the project and inform them about the project goals. When you bring everyone together to discuss the essential details, you will ensure that everyone knows the deadline. You can inform the employees about the meeting through email.

Intimate the date and time when everyone has to be present. For employees who can’t be physically on the spot, you can hold a video conference for them to join. You can opt for Skype or similar platforms for the video conference. Once a week or twice a week, you can hold follow-up meetings to check the project’s progress and what is being done to meet the deadline. Ensure that every relevant individual is present at the meeting.

Have a Positive Outlook

Being positive is necessary if you want to be a successful small business owner. When you have a positive mindset, you will not only propel forward towards your goals. You will also inspire others around you to march towards completing a project successfully.

We can, and we will, are words that will spread positivity in your team. After an employee takes a positive approach and successfully moves towards the goal, make sure that you appreciate them.

Never portray the deadline as something tough to attain. That will demotivate the employees. Rather, tell them this is the opportunity to prove themselves and inform them that you are confident of their success. Remember, you have to keep full faith in them. If they realize that you trust them and you are willing to give them all support, they will automatically give their 100%. However, don’t be overly positive. Just keep a healthy and positive attitude. That will work.

Don’t forget to reassess the deadlines in the middle of the project. As you take responsibility for your company’s success, you should also hold yourself accountable for your failures. Have we missed out on tips that could help business owners set attainable deadlines? Mention them in the comments section.