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I have too much work to care. Never expect things on time anyway.
Yea id set the deadline ideally with a 1-day buffer of when you actually need it. Things come up or it takes longer than expected
That sounds a bit hypocritical. I would think/hope that your experience doing this same thing would help you be more understanding instead of annoyed. When you’re a junior, things come up and it can be hard to say no, it can also be harder to communicate with seniors because the relationships aren’t there yet, etc.
I’ve had to work on these things myself and have found I have improved as I gained experience and confidence and just gotten to know people better. Have you made yourself approachable and open to communication, even if they’re communicating something less than ideal?
Coach
I try to stress frequent communication. Just tell me what’s going on or why stuff is hung up so we can deal with it. I’m going in a million different directions and struggling to keep track of everything and if something slips and I have no idea why it never made it to me/out the door, then I’ll get frustrated and speculate about the person not doing their job correctly. It also helps to have everything calendared with a deadline as to when stuff needs to be submitted/emailed to me for review. Etc. that way nothing gets lost in Translation and I’m prompted to follow up myself if something is outstanding. It is rough working with junior associates for sure. But I try to keep in mind that they don’t know a damn thing. This is completely new to them. Everything they do is something different for them, and law school absolutely didn’t prepare them for what they are now getting into. It’s a process.
But If they develop the right attitude, attention to detail, communication skills, and the built in sense of urgency, they will get where they need to be and contribute to the team. You can tell the ones that won’t make it within a matter of months most of the time.
I set early deadlines for milestones on larger projects. I also check in and ask "hey how's it going?" if it's been a couple weeks with no chatter and I need to review something. Microsoft planner is actually pretty good for tracking assignments on both ends.
It's frustrating when juniors are late, but I was not always on time for every single assignment myself. I'm not going to pretend I was a star in that regard. I was never late for a court ordered deadline or firm client deadline, but soft deadlines definitely got pushed. I always tried to communicate, but I understand not every senior was accepting all the time. And yes, sometimes clients get mad. I always felt guilty about that. That said, I'm only one person and sometimes expectations are hard to meet- hence the need for a good interpersonal relationship and communication with the junior.
I try to find ways to make sure the file still runs properly without making my juniors feel like shit for missing a soft deadline. I know it's more work, but just think - is your life better with the junior's help or without it? Think of the work it takes to retrain someone brand new on all your complex cases? My juniors are pretty good, not perfect, but I'll take some missed deadlines over getting new juniors.
And sometimes the junior is embarrassed to communicate something was harder than they thought, or that they misjudged the time needed to finish the assignment. I know how that feels. Time management is a skill. Again, if the relationship between you is good, they will feel more comfortable to communicate and that can help you plan. Or give them clarification or a tip to save time.
Thanks A5 this is really helpful
I’m going a different route from the other responses and sharing my pet peeve. I get bent out of shape over others (though specifically juniors) shirking work or passing off work because they just do not want to do it. Recently had a junior (who had volunteered for a project) pass off their portion to other people even more junior because the original person “did not need the hours.”
That work now falls on others who either don’t really grasp what they’re doing on the project, or puts more on the plates of others already on the project because we need to check and recheck the work.
L1- to put it lightly, yes. Yes we/they are.
Feel this too right now. Except the person who just burned me is supposed to be the same year as me.