How to making those pesky freelancers deliver their work on time 
For some time, I have been having problems with freelance writers delivering work a couple of days after the deadline we agreed on. Getting a couple of articles delivered late usually isn’t a “big problem” for me, however, missing deadlines is!
Even the best of us eventually end up missing a deadline or two, and to prevent it from happening too often, it is important to handle it properly – Something I haven’t been doing in the past.
What You Can Do Right Now!
I love the people, who work with me, and don’t enjoy giving them negative feedback. As a result, I have spent a lot of time thinking about how to make it less unpleasant for them, which I hope will also make them more likely to actually change their behaviour and be on time with their deliverables.
I think the best way to deliver negative feedback is to make it as short as possible, and focus on the cause and effect. I use this neat little formula, which I learned about from Manager Tools.
When you do X, this is what happens.
Examples
Below are a couple of examples of basic feedback I would give someone, who missed the deadline we set.
When you send me x later than we agreed on, it is difficult for me to get my own work done on time.
When you send me x later than we agreed on, I get concerned that you may not be able to handle the job.
When a deadline pass, and I don’t hear from you, I get worried that something may have happened to you, just like I would be concerned if you didn’t show up for work one day.
It is important to tailor the message to the person you are talking to. Something that really hits a nerve with one person, can leave someone else wondering why the heck you are telling them something like that.
If I’m talking to someone that is very focused on getting things done and don’t worry if he may hurts someone’s feelings in the process, I wouldn’t tell him that “I’m worried that something may have happened to him” when he turns in work late. He probably doesn’t think that way, and may wonder why the heck I’m worrying about his well being.
If I on the other hand told him that “I’m concerned that he isn’t able to handle the job” it would strike a never with him, since I’m implying that he isn’t capable of doing his job.
Edit: I forgot to mention that it is important to give people positive feedback when they do deliver on time – Carrots work better than sticks.
Status Reports
If you don’t like chasing people down after they have missed a deadline, you can simply ask for a status report
I’m looking forward to getting the [insert number] articles about [insert subject] on [insert date], so I can do [something]. How are they coming along?
The purpose of the email above is to make it clear to people that you care about the work they are doing, and that you are counting on them to get them to meet the deadline. By letting them know what you are going to do with the articles, you are also making the work more meaningful to the writer, so it isn’t just “something they do to make money”.
I think that if you always ask for an update a couple of days before the deadline, people will start expecting you to do it, and make sure that they get started early on your job, since they know you are going to be asking them about it.
Trick: To make it easy for you to send out all the reminders, just create a reminder in Google Calendar each time you assign ajob. You can even set it up to send a reminder to your email address if you don’t check your calendar every day.
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