Looking back on a project I had where my manager was responsible for delivering a configured server, I see now how important marking tasks as “delayed” every time it applies.

The “In Progress” status may not tell the whole story and thus adding “Deferred” “Delayed” “Waiting On” can be used to ensure the true overall picture of a project is correct.

It turned out that my manager was 3 weeks late on his deliverable and you guessed it, I was to blame for the overall schedule delay.  Having this true status noted would have allowed other team members look back and see 3 weeks of “Delayed” for a task.  This can help in an unfair and less than transparent environment.

It was my first encounter understanding that my boss was an “I didn’t get to it yet” type of person.  You need to continue to ask for status, reasons for the delay, and offer assistance when a task is delayed for no reason other than the person is busy.  You need to do this for all project members, vendors, and consultants and for all tasks.

If you can, avoid having your boss take on any tasks where they are not partnered with another person.  Always, always have two (2) people on your emails so as to have additional evidence that you follow up.

This is necessary also for high achievers who usually complete deliverables on time and solve problems quickly and there can always be an exception.

We will discuss these high achievers and reasons why they may delay your project and how to mitigate in a future post.