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  • December 10, 2021
  • Editorial
  • Harvard Business Review Digital Articles

Go Ahead and Ask for More Time on That Deadline

By: A.V. Whillans
  • Format:Electronic
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Abstract

Unrealistic deadlines don’t help anyone—and yet more often than not, employees avoid asking for extensions even when they know more time would help them do a better job. Through a series of studies with more than 4,000 working adults, the author illustrates how despite people’s assumption that they’ll be judged negatively if they request a deadline extension, managers are actually likely to rate employees who ask for extra time as more competent and motivated. As such, she argues that managers should make an effort to clearly communicate when deadlines are flexible (since employees are likely to assume that they aren’t), and that when in doubt, employees shouldn’t be afraid to ask for extra time.

Keywords

Deadlines; Extension Request; Employees; Time Management; Behavior; Perception

Citation

Whillans, A.V. "Go Ahead and Ask for More Time on That Deadline." Harvard Business Review Digital Articles (December 10, 2021).
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About The Author

Ashley V. Whillans

Negotiation, Organizations & Markets
→More Publications

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  • Policy Stringency and Mental Health During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Longitudinal Analysis of Data from 15 Countries By: Lara B. Aknin, Bernardo Andretti, Rafael Goldszmidt, John F. Helliwell, Anna Petherick, Jan-Emmanuel De Neve, Elizabeth W. Dunn, Daisy Fancourt, Elkhonon Goldberg, Sarah P. Jones, Ozge Karadag, Elie Karam, Richard Layard, Shekhar Saxena, Emily Thornton, Ashley Whillans and Jamil Zaki
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