I’d love to give you the benefit of the doubt, but your actions have proven I can’t trust you to honor your word.
Recently I was working on a project with a man that I’ll call Tony.
Tony and I came to an agreed on a budget of $1,500 for the project.
Tony told me that it would take him two weeks to complete the project.
We agreed that once Tony completed the project, I would pay him $1,500.
The project was to begin on August 7 and be completed by August 23.
On August 19, I contacted Tony and asked him for a status update.
Tony responded that he would have the project completed that Friday on August 23 and would call me on Friday with the completed work.
On August 24th, I sent Tony a message that I did not hear from him.
I informed him that the project needed to be completed.
On August 25th, I sent Tony a message that his deadline to finish the project was August 27th.
I informed Tony that, if the project was not completed by August 27, he would be in breach of our agreement and I would find a new vendor for the project.
A few hours later, Tony informed me that he was doing the best he could to complete the project and he needed until August 30th to complete the project.
I asked him what time on August 30th he would have the completed work to me?
The following morning on August 26th I still had not heard back from Tony on when he was going to provide me with the work.
At this point, I was getting leery about the chances that Tony would deliver as he agreed to.
I sent a message to Tony notifying he had not answered my question on what time he was going to deliver the work to me on August 30th.
I further informed him that he had until 5 pm that evening to respond.
Otherwise the August 27th deadline was going to remain in force, and he would forfeit his chance to get paid.
A few hours later, I heard back from Tony that he would have the work completed by 6 pm on August 30.
I agreed to the 6 pm deadline on August 30th.
I was still suspicious of Tony. He had already been late on a few of his deadlines.
Further, I was getting the feeling that Tony was just stringing me along.
On August 30th, I sent Tony a message to confirm that he was going to have the project complete.
At 6 pm, Tony was nowhere to be found.
I called Tony to see if I could catch him, falsely believing that maybe he was caught up in traffic.
A half hour later, I get a message from Tony stating he was caught up with something and would call me around 7 pm.
I already had a commitment at 7 pm and told Tony that I would call him after the meeting.
After my meeting, I called Tony and left a voicemail message.
The following day, around 5 pm, I still had not heard from Tony.
I informed Tony that I was canceling the project and he would not be receiving the compensation.
I was annoyed and frustrated by the circumstance.
I had allowed Tony to slide after his first deadline.
Tony was all talk and no action.
Today around 3 pm, I got a message from Tony expressing his displeasure with me that I was not giving him leeway to get the project done.
I guess he didn’t recognize that I had already given him two extended deadlines.
If I wish I would have stuck with my original deadline.
Now I’m forced to start all over with finding someone new to do the project.
When I get angry or frustrated about a situation, I like to take time to reflect on the situation.
The first thing I ask myself is what is it about the situation that frustrates me.
In this instance, I was upset that Tony was not living up to his word when he committed with me.
I was further annoyed at his lack of communication with me.
The only time I got a response from him was when I started to apply the pressure of a deadline.
As I review this situation, I’ve noticed the following two items that bother me.
- Not meeting a deadline.
- Lack of communication.
Now I ask myself where I am failing with these two items in the way I’m interacting with my customers.
One of the things that I despise most in people is hypocrisy.
Hypocrisy is when I get upset at someone’s behavior when I am guilty of the same behavior.
It’s the pot calling the kettle black.
Now the question is, how am I a hypocrite when it comes to meeting deadlines and lack of communication.
What can I do to correct those behaviors in myself?
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