Meeting Deadlines at Work: How Important is It?

Meeting deadlines at work is very important. I should know, I've been on both sides of deadlines. And I don't mean the early side and the late side. I mean the side where I'm working to meet a deadline, and the side where I'm waiting for everyone else to turn their work in by the deadline.

Here are some important reasons to meet deadlines at work:

Meeting deadlines ensures smooth work flow. In this case, let's use the example of a report that's due Wednesday at noon. This deadline was not chosen arbitrarily. Let's continue the example by saying that the information in your report is something needed for a meeting Friday. Yes, I completely understand that the meeting is not until Friday. But, (pause, here it comes) I need time to read your report. I may also need time to check into specifics of your report and perhaps even meet with you about it. And all the while I have other reports to read and other projects to work on. If everything doesn't go according to schedule, our time-lines lag. When our time-lines lag, productivity decreases. Meeting deadlines is crucial to ensuring a smooth work flow.

Meeting deadlines facilitates timely communication. I currently work for a non-profit where we get a lot of solicitations to support charitable and political causes. There's nothing that befuddles me more than receiving a well-thought out marketing piece concerning a cause that we would gladly back- on the day before the event. Whenever I get those, and it happens more frequently than you would think, I always wonder who dropped the ball. I mean, c'mon: There was obviously a lot of effort put into the promotional materials. But having them arrive the day before an event is an absolute waste. I can't coordinate any support on a day's notice. The materials are useless because of poor timing. The mailing deadline should have been at least two weeks earlier than the actual mailing in order to facilitates timely communication. When your material is time-sensitive, meeting deadlines is critical to success.

Meeting deadlines at work makes you a team player. Everyone loves to work with a team player! (And no one wants to work with a slacker, no matter what the excuses.) The cold, hard fact of the workplace is: If you're known for not being able to meet deadlines, you're also known as being difficult. Missing deadlines can mean career suicide. Meeting deadlines is a professional way to show that you care about what's going on at work and that you work well with others. Meeting deadlines makes you a team player.

Meeting deadlines is highly important in the workplace. Meeting deadlines ensures smooth work flow, facilitates timely communication, and most of all shows that you're a team player.