When you're working on a task, remember that there are stakeholders awaiting the deliverables you're planning to produce.
To support clear communication, maintain transparency, and avoid potential miscommunication, consider the following best practices for effective ETA management (Estimated Time of Arrival) and sharing the ETAs with your relevant stakeholders:
💫Clear Communication: Always accompany your work with a clear ETA, specifying the date when you anticipate completing the task and sharing the expected outcome.
💫Inclusive Approach: Extend this practice beyond just your clients and management; apply it consistently when collaborating with your internal team, subordinates, or trainees. This approach builds a culture of respect and lays the foundation for enduring professional relationships.
💫Thorough Decomposition: To provide a realistic ETA, break down your task into smaller, manageable steps. Estimate each step individually, considering its complexity and duration.
💫Contingency Planning: Account for unexpected challenges, new details, and potential risks. A wise strategy is to add at least a 10% buffer to your initial estimate, ensuring a more comprehensive coverage.
💫Realistic Estimate: Combine steps 3 and 4 to generate a realistic ETA, one that factors in both the segmented tasks and potential contingencies. Share this ETA with all relevant stakeholders.
💫Progress Updates: Maintain regular progress reporting. Approximately 2-3 days before the ETA deadline, confirm the progress status and reiterate the anticipated completion date.
💫Proactive Rescheduling: If, for any reason, you foresee an inability to meet the ETA, take swift action. Replan your work and promptly inform your stakeholders of the updated ETA. Offer a comprehensive explanation behind any necessary postponement.
💫 Prompt Responses: Whenever you receive a new task or request, respond on the same day to acknowledge receipt. If immediate completion isn't feasible, communicate the expected ETA without delay.
NEVER:
⛔Miss the initially communicated ETA and act as if nothing occurred.
⛔Fail to meet the ETA and wait for stakeholders to initiate inquiries about task completion.
⛔Disregard a missed ETA without providing an updated timeline and valid reasoning.
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