Sensible Goal Setting – When to turn down work

It’s easy to fall foul off optimistic estimates of what you can achieve in in given time frame, and it’s beyond your control when things happen to prevent you from completing work. The difference between a professional freelancer and an amateur is in the attitude you take to getting the work done when things go wrong. An amateur might wait until the deadline, hoping against hope to get the assignment done in time. A professional will keep lines of communication open, and have back up plans in place for contingencies.

It’s important as a freelancer not to accept work you don’t think you’ll be able to complete, on time and to specification.

Of course, sometimes you’ll have to do some research before you can provide the article your client wants to the standard they require, and it’s possible to underestimate the amount of research a given subject might take.

It’s also possible to accept an assignment and then have ‘life happen.’ A good example of this would be having the power supply on your computer die on you at a critical time, or losing your Internet connection.

So just what do you do if you find yourself suddenly in a position where it looks as thought you might not be able to meet a deadline?

First, don’t give up at the first hurdle. When it comes to research, it’s important not to panic if a subject turns out to be more complex that you initially imagined. Instead, make a list of the questions you need answering and allot as much time as you have to it, then work through the list, getting the best answers to the questions you can.

If your client is more clued up on the subject than you are, a quick phone call or email asking for clarification on one or two points won’t generally go against you. Certainly it won’t damage your client’s faith in you as much as writing an article with inaccurate information or faulty argument.

It’s also sometimes OK to include points of confusion in your article. Sometimes you can’t find a satisfactory answer, or are confronted with differing opinions because experts disagree. In these cases noting the opposing opinions and who supports which, giving your readers the opportunity to make up their own minds is the best way to go.

As far as ‘life’ goes, signalling issues as they arise to clients, and how you hope to overcome them, is a better move than disappearing off the face of the Earth with no explanation. You might re-emerge days later with excuses hoping your client will forgive your lapse. Even if your client doesn’t dump you like a hot brick, they will have lost some of their trust in your abilities.

If instead, you communicate technical or other issues as soon as you are aware of them, a minor disaster could actually end up growing your client’s trust in your reliability.

If you lose Internet access, remember you can always ‘borrow’ it from somewhere else. Get into the habit of storing files relating to clients’ work online, on a service like Google Docs or something similar. Keep their contact information on your phone, and keep a paper record as well. Sadly, it’s possible for more than one technological device to die on you at once. In the same vein, keep multiple records of assignments, guidelines and due dates.

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