Falling behind in your work is costly, especially to your reputation

In any case, this is what is stated a study published in the journal Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes. Its authors, David Fang and Sam Manglio, argue that punctuality directly influences the perception of competence and integrity in the professional environment. They found evidence of this after surveying thousands of workers in the US and UK, including managers, executives, HR leaders and other employees who are used to evaluating the work of their employees. peers. “All searches [sur la ponctualité] that we could find focused on how deadlines influence the minds and actions of workers. We wanted to know how a delay affects the minds and actions of those observing these same workers“, explains Sam Maglio in a press release.

To do this, the participants of their study were invited to note various works (advertising leaflets, commercial offers, press articles, etc.) by being informed in advance of their submission date: in advance, on time or in delay. The objective? Check if this detail influenced their judgment. It seems that this is the case. Late assignments consistently received lower grades, with participants rating them as lower quality, even when the content was identical. “Everyone saw the exact same art competition entry, school assignment, or business proposal, but they couldn’t help but use their knowledge of when each production was submitted to evaluate its quality”, underlines Sam Maglio.

This severity is based on the fact that a delay is perceived as a sign of incompetence or lack of seriousness. And this remains true whether it’s a delay of a day or a week. Every deviation, no matter how small, tarnishes professional reputation. This evaluation bias goes beyond cultural and hierarchical boundaries: a study carried out among Chinese high school students confirms that meeting deadlines is a key evaluation criterion, even without a relationship of authority.

In short, in the professional world as elsewhere, submission dates must be respected. Some delays are excusable, but they must be the result of unforeseen circumstances, not a lack of organization. If you suspect that you will not be able to respect the “deadline” set by your number one, let him or her know. Communicating is the best way to limit damage. Also be careful not to overestimate the time it will take you to complete a task – a behavioral bias that English speakers call the “planning fallacy”. Always leave yourself extra time to deal with possible unforeseen events or setbacks.