On a deadline?
Richard Brewin • November 21, 2019
We’ve all experienced it. I’m experiencing it right now! Loads of things to do, distractions a plenty and a pressing deadline to hit. What to do???
- Be honest. It may be too late on this occasion but over-promising and under-delivering is the epidemic of our profession. Our desire to help our client leads us to say “yes we can” when circumstances dictate “no we can’t”, “Friday’s fine” when “A week on Tuesday” is realistic. We set ourselves up to fail and need to stop. The only fix is an honest, realistic assessment and conversation. Don’t drop yourself in it!
- Be realistic. If you can’t make a deadline then the sooner you recognise it and do something about it, the better. If you’re going to have to let a client down, or change the arrangements, then the sooner they know, the less likely it is to raise the temperature. Bite the bullet and pick up the phone.
- Don’t neglect your other duties. You have other responsibilities, a looming deadline doesn’t change that. Shutting yourself away and ignoring them will only create more stress and problems later and does nothing for your popularity rating. By all means prioritise your deadline but communicate this fact to your team, spend a few minutes covering your other bases with clear instruction and then leave yourself clear to focus on the task in hand.
- Communicate your intentions. If you plan to shut yourself away, switch off your email, ignore the phone, lock the kids in the garden, whatever, then make sure that you’ve communicated this to those around you so that they’re not left wondering or adrift. Let them know the timescale too, when you will next be available.
- However clever we are, we can only focus on one thing at once. You’ve now laid the foundation for a clear run at your work and because you’ve done it properly, you can now focus on your deadline. You’re not worrying about what others are doing and they’re not worrying about you.
Generally the stress around a deadline is added to by the promises you make and the interruptions you’ve not addressed in advance. A little forethought and preparation can allow you to better focus and better deliver. You may still be interrupted by shouts of “Fire! Fire!” but you’ve got everything else covered.
Look at any accounting firm website and there is a fair chance that the word ‘proactive’ will be prominent. Ask some business owners and taxpayers whether they consider their accountant to be proactive. There is commonly a gap between the two, between the intent of the accountant and the expectations of the client.
The tag ‘Trusted Advisor’ gets bandied around a lot. Without trying to be deliberately contentious, I often challenge its use. Undoubtedly, accountants were once the trusted advisor to their clients. When I came into the profession 44 years ago now, the older partners, especially, were seen by their clients as their trusted advisor, their ‘go to’ person on any issues, business, family or personal, that were troubling them. Without the filing deadlines of today, these clients were with their accountant primarily because they valued the relationship rather than the products.
All accountants are the same! We’ve all heard it said. It’s nonsense, of course, but, when you are asked what it is that your firm does that differentiates it from other accounting firms, it can be a challenge to come up with something tangible. Accounting firms tend to offer similar services, that’s what makes them accounting firms. Differentiating from competitors based upon services provided is therefore an issue.