When deadlines start slipping, it's not just about pushing harder. It’s about understanding the root cause. Is it a resource constraint? Misaligned expectations? Or perhaps a breakdown in communication? By fostering transparency and creating a culture where the team feels comfortable flagging issues early, you can collectively address challenges before they snowball. Sometimes, it’s not about moving faster—it’s about reassessing priorities and ensuring the focus is on the most impactful tasks.

Open discussion does help in such situation which most teams lacks now..thanks for sharing!

Working on the Reels team at Instagram, we occasionally missed deadlines due to unforeseen challenges with new features. To get back on track, we reassessed our priorities and focused on the most impactful initiatives. We also established more frequent, open communication by holding quick syncs to surface blockers early. This transparency helped resolve bottlenecks and empowered the team to move forward confidently. It's crucial to communicate often and concentrate on what delivers the most value.

Missed deadlines need to be handled on a priority but ensure you are identifying the root cause, don't panic and jump to conclusions. Understand why the deadline is missed - is it a planning issue or skillset issue or team doesn't have the necessary issues or the tasks are not clearly defined, etc. Once the root cause is identified, collaborate with your team, ideate and update your plan. Provide the necessary resources and timely track the progress to avoid slippages. Access - Identify - Communicate - New Plan - Implement - Track - Deliver the Solutions Most important of all ensure this issue doesn't happen again.