Deadlines question

[DragonFaerie]

Here is another unimportant question of the day.  Say you had a project that was due Thursday.  You discover that you're not going to be able to finish on time, so you request a deadline extension (prior to the deadline), which is granted.  Assuming you finish the project by the new deadline, can you still say you've never been late with a project?  Or was the project technically late and the deadline missed even though you asked for and was granted the extension?

[hjffkj]

I would say the project was late.

[regentrude]

The project was late.

That you were granted an extension was sheer luck and goodwill on part of whoever was overseeing the project.

[regentrude]

Luck and goodwill ? That's stretching it a bit. Extensions exist because people are humans, not just workers or students, and there are many valid life experiences that require extensions.

 

It is still luck and goodwill if whoever gave the extension is not mandated to do so.

I am not saying circumstances that would make an extension desirable may never arise - but rather that one is not entitled to an extension just because something happens.

 

In real life, there are usually no extensions. My semester starts Monday and everything will have to be ready; the students will show up and expect to be taught. If a test is scheduled for 500 people, it needs to be ready because it can't be rescheduled. If DH misses the deadline for extending his grant proposal, he won't get money. If DD had missed her college application deadline, her application would not have been considered.

Nope, in my experience, extensions don't exist outside of school settings.

 

 

[regentrude]

Wow, well I'll just feel like a second class student then, for relying on the good luck that my lecturer recognises serious illness as a valid reason to give an extension.

 

It  has nothing to do with second class - but it is luck that your instructor is willing to work with you and able to do so.

Your course might equally well have a policy that, for example, each student is allowed a certain number of missed assignments to account for illness or emergencies. Or the setup of the class may be such that it is not feasible to accept assignments after a deadline (for example when solutions are published).

 

I am sorry you are ill, and I am glad that your instructor is able to give you an accommodation.

 

[MomatHWTK]

If I were an employer and a prospective employee told me that they were "never late on a project" and I subsequently found that the employee thought it was OK (or didn't count) to be late if they got an extension in advance, I would be VERY disappointed.  The extension may be for legitimate reasons, but to then affirmatively state that one has never been late takes it a bit far. 

[DragonFaerie]

If I were an employer and a prospective employee told me that they were "never late on a project" and I subsequently found that the employee thought it was OK (or didn't count) to be late if they got an extension in advance, I would be VERY disappointed.  The extension may be for legitimate reasons, but to then affirmatively state that one has never been late takes it a bit far. 

 

This is kind of what I was thinking.

[catz]

If I were an employer and a prospective employee told me that they were "never late on a project" and I subsequently found that the employee thought it was OK (or didn't count) to be late if they got an extension in advance, I would be VERY disappointed.  The extension may be for legitimate reasons, but to then affirmatively state that one has never been late takes it a bit far. 

 

LIKE!

 

Agree with this totally. 

[xixstar]

Instead of using the phrase that I have never been late, I'm far more likely to confirm that I have met all of my obligations -- says someone that has negotiated due dates on assignments (both in school and in work) many times. I personally don't agree that life is all hard-edge deadlines - sometimes it is and sometimes it isn't.  I don't really feel that negotiating a new deadline is automatically 'late' default because it is an agreement between two parties and if a later deadlines is acceptable, then it is reasonable to assume you've met the obligation of the (new) deadline.

[Ivey]

If I were an employer and a prospective employee told me that they were "never late on a project" and I subsequently found that the employee thought it was OK (or didn't count) to be late if they got an extension in advance, I would be VERY disappointed.  The extension may be for legitimate reasons, but to then affirmatively state that one has never been late takes it a bit far. 

I agree completely. I was seriously ill for most of my senior year of college and had to ask for several extensions. When applying for grad school and jobs after that, I would have felt like a liar if I'd said that I'd "never missed a deadline". 

[SKL]

Depends on why the deadline was missed.  Was it because you discovered new information that meant the scope of the project was now expanded and its value enhanced as a result?  Was it because some of the needed inputs were impossible to get for reasons beyond your control?

 

This February I had a government deadline.  I had everything ready to go but the government's web technology had an error that did not allow me to submit.  I had to request an extension in order to submit the report properly.  I would not consider that to be a missed deadline.

 

If it was because I was sick or underestimated the amount of work involved etc., then tough nuts.  One hopes grace would be given for a serious illness or the like, but it's still a late submission.

 

I've never felt compelled to state whether or not I'd ever missed a deadline in the past.  How far back would that go?  In 10th grade, I refused to do the final biology project as a protest, so does that count?  :p

[Arcadia]

Technically you would be late in submission. I won't count a late submission if everyone was granted an extension based on system failure.

 

I have never been asked if I miss deadlines for school. I had been asked if I was able to cope with project deadlines for previous jobs during interviews.

[DragonFaerie]

I've not been asked whether I've ever missed a deadline.  It was just a point of pride for me.

[TechWife]

 

In real life, there are usually no extensions. 

 

This is not true. In "real life" there are plenty of times when deadlines are re-negotiated. The reasons are varied and most are valid. Off of the top of my dead, here are a few: 

 

New information comes to light that causes a change in the scope of the project

Change in personnel requires additional time in order for those new to the project to come up to speed on the project

Weather emergencies cause delays in travel, sometimes for days

Companies don't come up with required funding prior to the deadline

Changes in technology cause re-evaluation of the nature and scope of the project

Clients withhold information that is critical to successful completion of the project

People working on the project are not qualified to do so

Families have true emergencies requiring re-assignment of job responsibilities

Companies fire critical players at crucial times in the work flow process

Management is out of touch with how the work is done and builds unrealistic expectations into a contract

Companies wish to extend good will 

 

I could go on, but I think that's a pretty good overview. "Real life" is pretty fluid. In my experience, school situations are the most rigid with deadlines, but I really don't consider academic scenarios to be true to life for the students. For the profs, yes, the academic life is their "real life," but, from my experience and observations, for the students it is rare outside of a technical education or an internship program for them to experience "real life" situations as the university is intentionally a place of isolation from the outside world. 

[SKL]

In real life there are few actual deadlines.

 

Of course if you're a tax professional, you might disagree...:P

[DragonFaerie]

Why were you unable to get it in on time in the first place?  To me that would be the defining thing.  If you were working on it all along and it just turned out to need more time then let it go.  If not..well..let it go anyway because there is no point in being upset over something you can't change.

 

I'm new to the proprietary software and to this style of work (similar to what I've done before, but also quite different).  This assignment is taking me about four times as long as the similar work I'm used to.  Luckily, the deadlines are very, very flexible.  And hopefully I'll get faster as I go along.

[Arcadia]

In real life there are few actual deadlines.

 

Of course if you're a tax professional, you might disagree...:P

There is also the liability clause in tender documents. One of my former employer paid up the late penalty for missing a project deadline.