What to do when you are under staffed and at a deadline

Meeting deadlines in your company is a must for making a profit or getting new business. Sometimes when you are trying to make a deadline for your products you may find yourself under staffed. You may need to get a presentation together for a new client and run into staffing problems.Deadlines for both product and presentations need to be met to keep customers and future customers happy. As a manager what are you to do when you are under staffed and at a deadline.

You should begin looking at your staffing problem right away. Do not wait until the last minute hoping that the few people you have will get the job done on time. It is not fair to any of your employees or the customers when you do that. While looking at your staffing problem you will want to determine how many people you are under staffed and how many it will actually take to get the job done in a timely manner. Once you decide how many more staffers you may need start looking at other areas of your company to get these extra staffers. Do you have part-time employees that would like to pick up some extra hours? Ask these employees for some extra time in helping you meet the deadline. These part time employees are familiar with your business and how it works. This makes it easier for them to move into a new role for a short amount of time.

Another option you have to look at when you are under staffed and at a deadline is to hire temporary workers. There are plenty of temporary staffing businesses for you to call and arrange to have one of their workers help you out. You will need to tell the temp agency exactly what you want and for how long of a time. The temp agency will then look through their databases for the correct fit. The employees for a temp agency are almost always screened by the temp agency. This gives the temp agency a good reputation and gives you the peace of mind when you most need it. You may have to do a little training with the temp worker but they should be able to move into your staff pretty easy and help you make your deadline.

If you are on a tight budget and can't pay someone for extra hours or hire a temp worker you may need to look at changing the deadline. This is not something you should do on a regular basis because it makes your company or business look unreliable. Faced with no other options you will need to call the customer or new client and ask to change the date of the meeting or product delivery. You should only use this option once with any new client or customer to maintain good relations. If you can get the deadline moved then you and your staff can continue working on the deadline for the product or presentation.

If you can work extra hours to meet the deadline you should. You are the one that is fully responsible for any deadlines that are met or missed. This is especially true if you are the owner of the business. Volunteer where you are needed and help your staff to meet the deadline. This creates a teamwork atmosphere along with helping you to meet the deadline while understaffed.

To meet deadlines when you are under staffed you will need to look at all your options before deciding what will work for you and your business or company. If you have constant under staffing problems you may need to look further into the problem before you are short on time for another deadline.