Christine Hastie

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Deadlines are a fact of collaborative work

The Write Stuff

Christine December 14, 2012 Leave a Comment 2214

Yikes, the report is due Monday and it’s Thursday already!

Does your organization have a plan to meet tight deadlines? How would your team pull together the information and resources to meet your organization’s goals?

First reactions to a situation like this would say a lot about how the team understands its mandate. What people say reflects their beliefs. The range can be interesting:

“It’ll never get done.”

“They always push us on the deadlines.”

“I blame the Research and Development group.”

So we hear: it is not possible, it shouldn’t be like this, and it’s not our fault. Each is an expression of fear. Nothing changes the fact that everyone is approaching a Terror Barrier; this is the wall that’s standing between you and a major opportunity for growth. It helps a lot if someone on the team recognizes this fact.

To smash through the Terror Barrier, you may not think it is helpful to express this fear, but it can be quite healthy at first. Anxiety that is not expressed is internalized and turns into depression and anger. You do need to understand that the origin of this fear is ignorance. The team is acknowledging that no one knows how to get the job done in the time provided.

The opposite of ignorance is knowledge and understanding. You need to let go of the fear. The team can start by stating the opposite of the first reactions: “It will get done, and we can do it if we pool our resources.” Other signs of impending success are statements such as:

“I’ll get the figures from Finance.”

“Here is last year’s report. We can start by updating the information.”

“I’ll call Research and see what they have for us.”

This team has pushed through the Terror Barrier and has found power and growth. Their results are about to be enhanced by momentum, too. Help your team by being an agent of growth and success and make the switch from fear and ignorance to understanding and knowledge.

Photo credit: Time by Alan Cleaver via Photo pin as cc

Christine
2012-12-14
Tags:
#collabowriter attitude business writing project collaborative writing essentials deadline document development document goals document objectives managing information terror barrier time timelines writing roles writing team writing team integration writing team strategy
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Written by Christine

Christine Hastie specializes in coaching writers, collaborators, and teams to success. Working in creative, technical, and therapeutic fields, she guides people to find their true message, especially when producing written resources that advance knowledge and help others.

View all articles by Christine

Website: http://christinehastie.com

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  • Are all team members on the same collaborative page?
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