With this idea firmly in mind, how do you prevent missing a deadline? This is another simple answer, and yet many people don't follow it: Be proactive. What does this mean? Well, I find that a good amount of the time a deadline is missed because the team lead does not check to see if their team is on track until the last minute. Finding out that three designs aren't going to be done the day before the deadline is due is not going to do you any good, as it is too late to do anything about it. However, if in this same situation you were to check a week or two before the deadline was due, the outcome might be different. This is being proactive. For our purposes, we can define it as taking action with enough time before your deadline is due to correct any problems.

The following are three things that you can do to be proactive on your projects as a team lead:

• Have regular meetings - Not just every once and awhile on the fly, but scheduled meetings. This means that your team knows that you have a meeting at a certain time on a certain day every week. For instance, you could have a 10:00 AM meeting every Monday to kick off the week and make sure everybody knows what they should be working on. Also, you could have a meeting at 3:00 PM on Friday to wrap up the week. You don't have to go overboard and have a meeting everyday (unless you're in really deep trouble), but I've found once or twice a week to be effective. Make sure that you have a structure to the meeting as well, and it's not just everybody standing around randomly talking. You need to conduct it and have a clear agenda when you go in for what you want to get out of it.
• Keep a tracking spreadsheet - This is another important organization tool: The tracking spreadsheet. Yes, it is a pain to
  Top 10 Things to make your next company meeting more exciting Part 1
  10. Take notes in finger paint.9. Bring a huge jar of Vaseline to the meeting. Display it prominently and keep muttering the words “I came prepared”8. Laugh uproariously at a quip that was made 2 or 3 minutes ago. Say, "Oh, _now_ I get it!"7. Wear a disposable paper facemask. Tell the group: "Hey, you don't want to catch what I've got!"6. Make a face like somebody beside you farted.5. Stand up and act indignant. Demand that the boss tell you “the real reason” this meeting has been called.4. Have someone deliver a large cardboard box to you in the conference room. Apologize while you sign for it. About hal
  ppens if your team doesn't make the deadline? Who gets the blame? This is a simple answer: You.

  With this idea firmly in mind, how do you prevent missing a deadline? This is another simple answer, and yet many people don't follow it: Be proactive. What does this mean? Well, I find that a good amount of the time a deadline is missed because the team lead does not check to see if their team is on track until the last minute. Finding out that three designs aren't going to be done the day before the deadline is due is not going to do you any good, as it is too late to do anything about it. However, if in this same situation you were to check a week or two before the deadline was due, the outcome might be different. This is being proactive. For our purposes, we can define it as taking action with enough time before your deadline is due to correct any problems.

  The following are three things that you can do to be proactive on your projects as a team lead:

  • Have regular meetings - Not just every once and awhile on the fly, but scheduled meetings. This means that your team knows that you have a meeting at a certain time on a certain day every week. For instance, you could have a 10:00 AM meeting every Monday to kick off the week and make sure everybody knows what they should be working on. Also, you could have a meeting at 3:00 PM on Friday to wrap up the week. You don't have to go overboard and have a meeting everyday (unless you're in really deep trouble), but I've found once or twice a week to be effective. Make sure that you have a structure to the meeting as well, and it's not just everybody standing around randomly talking. You need to conduct it and have a clear agenda when you go in for what you want to get out of it.
  • Keep a tracking spreadsheet - This is another important organization tool: The tracking spreadsheet. Yes, it is a pain t
    FTC Reviews The Franchise Rule
    After more than a decade since the last attempt to update the 1970’s Franchise Rule The Federal Trade Commission is at it again. May I ask why we are looking at reviewing these rules for franchising, where no problems exist? Why we are looking to tighten up ambiguities, which over time have occurred in this sector, when we should be dismantling the over regulations choking the industry? Why we are trying make rules upon rules, where no rules are needed since no problem really exits? Why can’t we use the red magic marker approach and start drawing lines thru massive amount meaningless dribble required in these disclosure documents?Let me
    be done the day before the deadline is due is not going to do you any good, as it is too late to do anything about it. However, if in this same situation you were to check a week or two before the deadline was due, the outcome might be different. This is being proactive. For our purposes, we can define it as taking action with enough time before your deadline is due to correct any problems.

    The following are three things that you can do to be proactive on your projects as a team lead:

    • Have regular meetings - Not just every once and awhile on the fly, but scheduled meetings. This means that your team knows that you have a meeting at a certain time on a certain day every week. For instance, you could have a 10:00 AM meeting every Monday to kick off the week and make sure everybody knows what they should be working on. Also, you could have a meeting at 3:00 PM on Friday to wrap up the week. You don't have to go overboard and have a meeting everyday (unless you're in really deep trouble), but I've found once or twice a week to be effective. Make sure that you have a structure to the meeting as well, and it's not just everybody standing around randomly talking. You need to conduct it and have a clear agenda when you go in for what you want to get out of it.
    • Keep a tracking spreadsheet - This is another important organization tool: The tracking spreadsheet. Yes, it is a pain t
      An Introduction To Dimensional Modeling For Data Warehousing - Part 1
      The design principles of the dimensional model, which is commonly used in data warehousing, are described in this article series. Dimensional models capture business performance measurements, which are used to support decision making. Dimensional model The descriptive simplicity and high performance in query execution, are characteristics which have contributed to the increased use of the dimensional model in data warehouse infrastructures. The symmetry and descriptive simplicity can be seen at the conceptual model (see resource link) which relates to retail sales monitoring (data warehousing technology has been introduced ini
      your projects as a team lead:
      • Have regular meetings - Not just every once and awhile on the fly, but scheduled meetings. This means that your team knows that you have a meeting at a certain time on a certain day every week. For instance, you could have a 10:00 AM meeting every Monday to kick off the week and make sure everybody knows what they should be working on. Also, you could have a meeting at 3:00 PM on Friday to wrap up the week. You don't have to go overboard and have a meeting everyday (unless you're in really deep trouble), but I've found once or twice a week to be effective. Make sure that you have a structure to the meeting as well, and it's not just everybody standing around randomly talking. You need to conduct it and have a clear agenda when you go in for what you want to get out of it.
      • Keep a tracking spreadsheet - This is another important organization tool: The tracking spreadsheet. Yes, it is a pain t
        What Constitutes a Learning Organization
        The work that was done in the early 90's and subsequently in the field of corporate practice by Peter Senge and his Associates in the Sloan School of Management at MIT and by Chris Argyris and his Associates at Harvard have flowed from academia in to the world of successful corporate management. Senge's theories and experience in his consulting practice at MIT have become the foundation for the theory and practice of what is now known as the learning organization. Senge's work came to the fore through his ground breaking book "The Fifth Discipline" published by Doubleday in 1990.In that book Senge, introduced the concept of five new comp
        board and have a meeting everyday (unless you're in really deep trouble), but I've found once or twice a week to be effective. Make sure that you have a structure to the meeting as well, and it's not just everybody standing around randomly talking. You need to conduct it and have a clear agenda when you go in for what you want to get out of it.
      • Keep a tracking spreadsheet - This is another important organization tool: The tracking spreadsheet. Yes, it is a pain to maintain. However, it will save you from a lot of problems in the future. With this spreadsheet, you can see your team’s progress at a glance. This makes it easy to go into a meeting with them and ask questions about who is slipping or who is going to be ahead of schedule and why. This can save your deadlines by allowing people who are ahead of schedule to help pick up the slack of those who are falling behind. Also, this is good for meetings with your boss so that you can give them an easy to understand overview of how your team is progressing. The key point to remember here is to make sure your tracking spreadsheet is up to date. It does you no good if you have one, and yet nobody has updated it for a week. If your team is responsible for updating, remind them to update at the end of everyday (or whatever works for you, I just find the end of the day to be effective). If you are responsible for updating it, make sure you set aside a certain amount of time to do it everyday.
      • Check in individually - Even if you have regular meetings, you should have informal progress checks with each of your team members. This doesn't mean that you have a schedule a specific time for this, this can be as simple as stopping by their cube and asking them how they are doing. This way you don't have to find out about a problem that happened on Tuesday at your regular Friday meeting. By performing these progress checks, you relay a message to your team that you are right there with them in the trenches, and that you are there to help if they have any questions. Also, as stated above, this allows you to take action immediately on a problem instead of having someone waste their time working on it for days at a time. Linking to the point above, if you find a change in someone's progress as you talk to them, update the tracking spreadsheet immediately after you get back to your desk. This way you can see how that change is going to impact the rest of the t