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Four Kinds of Dates

Rich Lafferty talks about the four kinds of dates: estimates, targets, soft deadlines, and hard deadlines.

Ambiguity in communication makes things more difficult than they need to be, especially when timeframes are involved.

Imagine this conversation:

  • Boss: When can you finish that usage report for me?
  • You: By the end of Wednesday?
  • Boss: Great, thanks!

What just happened? Did you commit to delivering by the end of Wednesday? Or is it an "I'll try my best" kind of thing? Why is your boss asking for it in the first place? Is there something else going on that you don't know about?

Let's try that conversation again:

  • Boss: I have the board meeting on Friday. Can you build the usage report for me by EOD Wednesday so I have time to review?
  • You: I can try. I have a few other things this week. I can definitely get it done by EOD Thursday
  • Boss: Ok, thanks. Let's make sure to set aside time on Friday morning to review before the board meeting at 3pm.

Understanding if you're talking about estimates, targets (EOD Wednesday), soft deadlines (EOD Thursday) or hard deadlines (2:45pm Friday) removes all ambiguity from the conversation. Everyone understands what needs to be done, by when, and what the impact is if we miss the date.

From Rich's post (just in case it disappears! I don't want to lose this gem):

  • An estimate is an educated guess about how long something will take.
  • A target is a statement of desire that something should be done by a particular date.
  • A deadline is a commitment which, if missed, has consequences. Missing a soft deadline has internal impact, and the consequences are usually only felt within the organization. Missing a soft deadline might prevent another team from moving forward, or interfere with next quarter’s planning, or prevent reaching a monthly sales target.
  • Missing a hard deadline has significant, external, and usually financial impact: a contractual penalty being invoked, for instance, or going out of compliance and being unable to do business.