In my company we seem to have hard and soft deadlines. The summer holiday is such a hard deadline. Holidays are coming, so everything has to be finished and my colleagues can clear their desks (I'm always going later on holidays, so I have to keep myself busy when everyone is away). At the end of the year: same story. And other hard deadlines are the external ones, like conference submissions. These are the only deadlines that count.
The rest of the deadlines are soft, or considered as under discussion. So when we agree in a project plan on a deadline of a report, some (many) people later find it very easy to ignore or change, to my (in my role as project manager, or work package manager) frustration. Of course, you can say "be more strickt", but that is easier said than done. First, we're dealing with professionals (smart but autonomous) and I'm not their "boss".
I think it is a matter of planning. Or: we are bad planners (I say "we" because I see myself as partner in crime). So we start too late, underestimate the work to be done and then need to negotiate about time. Some people would say that is typical for knowledge work, but that sounds as an excuse to me ("I'm sorry I'm too late, but I'm a knowledge worker, you know").
I wonder what would help. Any tips, solutions?
