No Excuse Deadlines

Some of you may remember the last time we addressed this topic in our blog. No Excuses Deadlines, a.k.a. NEDs, are deadlines that must be met along the path to fulfilling a key expectation. Whenever failure to deliver on a key expectation is not an option, NEDs become invaluable. To utilize NEDs effectively, everyone along your Expectations Chain must accept the key expectation, believe in it, and share responsibility for making it happen. Once there is clarity and commitment around the key expectation, you can employ NEDs to make sure milestones and deadlines are met along the way.

Take a minute and think about a time in your life when you were part of a team or Expectations Chain that effectively applied NEDs to successfully deliver on a key expectation. Deconstruct the experience in your mind. Was the key expectation or desired outcome clearly understood by everyone involved? Did everyone demonstrate accountability and ownership for making it happen? What did you do when an individual or group along the Expectations Chain began to falter or seemed to be in jeopardy of not delivering their needed contribution? Were the NEDs clearly established, constantly discussed, regularly monitored, and consistently met? How did you feel when the expectation was successfully met? Contrast that feeling with a time when you didn’t deliver on a key expectation. How did the people on your team and along the Expectations Chain feel after failing to meet the expectation?

Remember, real change and true success begins with a statement of what you (individually or as an organization) want to have happen. Stating your expectation, and making it as accurate as possible, helps you to clarify the outcome you need to achieve. When you add NEDs to your key expectations, it means no excuses will be accepted for failure to delivery on specified milestones and deadlines. To learn more about how to effectively establish and fulfill key expectations through our Accountability Sequence process, join our Accountability Community at www.partnersinleadership.com, where you can review the accounts of actual companies.

Expectations Chain, Accountability Sequence, and Accountability Community are registered trademarks of Partners In Leadership Inc.