Why promised dates slip
Most missed dates are not slow work. They are bad counting.
- Calendar days instead of working days. Ten days from a Thursday is not ten working days.
- Closed days forgotten. A holiday in the middle moves everything after it.
- One date for the whole job. Nobody knows the job is late until the end, because no stage had its own date.
Work out your dates
Put each stage on its own line with the number of working days it takes, in order. Pick the days you work and add any days you are closed.
Use a colon, a comma or a spaced hyphen between the name and a whole number of working days. Counting starts the day after the start date or previous due date. Zero days keeps the same date.
Working days
Use the warning dates
A due date tells you when you are late. A warning date tells you while there is still time to do something. Check every open job against its warning date, not its due date.
Once each stage has a date, the Monday number guide covers how to see every job against its clock on one screen.
Want every job tracked against its dates?
Tell me your stages. I will tell you what it takes to put each open job on a clock, with a warning to the owner before it slips.