#Fail Friday: Missing the deadline

A few weeks ago I missed a key deadline.  I missed the deadline because I thought my project was 4 weeks long and in fact it was only three.  The deadline was essentially driven by a fixed cost engagement.  It wasn't so much a schedule deadline as much as a number of day effort deadline.

My response, when I earned of it two days before the actual deadline was to rush, to work long days and try to recover.

The result, as expected: quality deteriorated, I made mistakes which had to be fixed and I ended up delivering 2 days later than I was originally planning.  I would have been better off just maintaining my pace and I would have had a better product earlier.

I know better than to do this but I still  make mistakes.

Why did I go wrong?  I mis-read the brief and didn't check back with anyone about my work plan.  The solution is the usual one: Communicate, communicate and communicate.  Then communicate some more.