Thread by @OmoKakafiala

Dear #YoungProfessional,

Beat Deadlines, don’t meet it:

In the world of social media and the latest gist/violence, there is the tendency to relegate quite important things.

In the world of work, many will meet deadlines, others will miss deadlines but only the exceptional

beat deadlines.
Many times, young professionals equate beating deadlines to not having so much work. That’s not really true!

You can make a habit of beating deadlines, it only requires the discipline needed and self-application.

It is likely that you’re working with a superior who likely also has a superior, thus, there’s a chain of command that probably need to review a piece of work before going to the client. Beating deadlines not only shows you as being efficient, it also shows you’re effective.

Am I saying you should beat deadlines without the required dedication and quality? NO! As I was once told, quality over speed! Does it also mean you cannot have quality and speed? NO! In fact, if you produce quality work and you deliver it past the needed time, the quality

work may become useless!
As I concluded my orientation& training when I first started working, I had a short meeting with a mentor, who is a partner at another top law firm. Over a glass of red wine and me asking how he became a partner quite early,

even skipping a level, amongst other things he said, ‘I have constantly built a reputation around delivering work way ahead of others, with better quality. Imagine if you as a partner receive the work you need at 6-7AM over the years, won’t you make me a Partner fast?’

He went on, ‘it is not that I don’t sleep or just want to send you work at that time, or that I’m pretending by sending you that work at that time when I could have sent it during the day, it is because it is just me, I have done the work and it is good, and you need it’.

Building a work culture around delivering quality work before the deadline, while partners have to keep chasing other associates/senior associates for reviews stood him apart.

One key thing for you to remember is that, as a junior in a team, your job is primarily to make the

life of your seniors on the team easier. If you’re busy, the person above your level is likely twice busier than you are (except a technically redundant person), now imagine the workload of your partner. Even if your partner is not that busy, they are busy looking for clients,

now imagine chasing clients to get work from them and having to chase you to send work to them?

As is said, the reward for hard work is more work, it is often missed that the reward for more work is a promotion that gives you more work and the cycle goes on.

How do you beat deadlines?;
a. desire to always beat deadlines;
b. prioritise tasks;
c. get to it right away- study all the necessary background facts;
d. make a mental or physical note of facts and actions
e. do the work, the hardest part is starting, so start.

f. set a personal deadline for yourself
e. where you don’t understand something, research it, ask colleagues and seniors;
g. use good software like Grammarly that can take of your grammar as you type- no one likes to see poorly constructed sentences;
h. cut down on SM time;

i. understand delayed gratification- you can drink that beer with the boys later;
j. review the work to see that it makes sense and send.

Agreed, there are days that you can’t beat deadlines, but when you have built a culture of beating deadlines, your supervisors will make

excuses for you and you still maintain your reputation as a star boy/girl.

Excellence is a lifestyle you can build and it will go with you everywhere.

Thoughts?
@ayodelegoni @chidi_esq @deolaagunbiade @DesmondOgba @reginaldaziza @adetolaov @MaryEkemezie