Poor Planning Problems
Have you ever been caught in someone else’s poor planning? You know what I mean – their lack of preparation suddenly becomes a problem that they want you to share?
I once had someone send me a document that they needed me to complete RIGHT NOW for an important deadline they had. Interestingly, they could have sent the document months earlier. However, due to their poor planning, they waited until the last minute to send it to me. Normally I wouldn’t mind, and I would have filled it out pretty quickly and sent it back to them.
However, on this occasion I was in Central America for business. Then I was going home to Austin for less than 24 hours, before leaving to BNI Global Headquarters in Charlotte, North Carolina for business meetings. After that I was off to Necker Island for some vacation and downtime.
They could not have caught me at a worse time – and they were completely aware that I was in the midst of my travels. Regardless, they emailed me, they emailed my assistant, emailed my wife, and emailed all of us two more times – all within two days!
In between my meetings, I sent this person a message that said, “I’m sorry you have a problem but your project is not my priority due to your poor planning. You had months to send this to me and you sent it at the last moment (when I’m swamped) and you want it right now. NO. I am not able to do it right now.”
In my book, Who’s In Your Room?, I said that sometimes, “no” is a one-word sentence. This is one of the times that I made it a one-word sentence (yes, I know I had other sentences, but I wanted to include that one-word sentence of “NO”).
I understood this person’s frustration. They made a mistake in their poor planning and dropped this in my lap. I have also been there before, but I did not handle it like they did with multiple demands for completion, reaching out to my assistant, and even my wife – several times!
Tips to Help with Poor Planning Situations
For your consideration, I recommend these suggestions if you find yourself in a situation where you may be dropping your problem on someone else due to your poor planning:
- Start with a sincere apology: “I’m really, really sorry but something has slipped through the cracks. I am getting this to you late. I know you should have had it a long time ago but you didn’t and that’s on me. I’ve attached it to this message. Is there any way you can return it to me by _____ date or time? I realize this may be an inconvenience, however I would appreciate it if you could make it happen.
- Copy the assistant on the message once – not multiple times.
- NEVER harass the spouse. Ever! Mine didn’t particularly appreciate being pulled into something she had nothing to do with.
- When you do get what you requested – thank them. Take responsibility again and say that you appreciate them helping you out by getting it to you quickly.
If you find yourself in a predicament due to some poor planning on your part, use these tips. Be kind, be respectful, and share your gratitude when someone helps you.
If you’re on the receiving end of someone else’s poor planning, remember that NO is a one-word sentence. Help them if you can and know that it’s okay if you can’t. You may want to send this blog to anyone who tries to make their problems your projects. Maybe they’ll get the message.