The Hazards of Work

So, I agreed to get a project done, all five documents, by July 22, even though this was a very aggressive due date. This would give my resources a few days to review the docs and me a few days to make edits and get the manuals published before the client's drop-dead due date of August 1.

Well, I managed to get over 300 pages of documents written, with first edits from another resource included, and compiled by July 18! I had to ignore many requests and secondary work, and work like a fiend, but I did it.

On Friday (the day this work was actually due), I get an email from my main contact with the department with which I am working. She provides me some edits on three of the five documents and then says she would forward the other two docs to others to review while she is gone on vacation next week. What? Excuse me? You are on vacation next week, the only week you originally had to edit all of this work?

This is very frustrating. First, because I bent over backward, ignored many other tasks and personal things (like this blog) and worked a lot of overtime to not only meet her requested due date, but even to beat it and get it done early. I had even asked one of my pals from IT to stop by my home and set up my network with the much faster and more secure connections so I could do some work at night. Second, at no time in the three weeks since requesting this document set and Friday had this woman informed me she was out on vacation during the pivotal review process. Lastly, my boss, Renee, is also completely swamped and is need of my assistance. I could have been doing more to help her if we could have negotiated more reasonable due dates on this project!

So, I have edits on the smallest of the docs in the set, and none for the actual User's Guide or the Model Reports Guide, the two largest and most involved. I will do these edits and I will hope for the best that her accomplices will do her edits for her. But if they do not, who gets the blame if we cannot meet our client's hard deadline of August 1?