Several reasons to meet deadlines: what happens when you submit work late (with photos).

Most people around the world understand that projects, whether work-related or academic, must be submitted on time, and there are several reasons for this. A new study has revealed why meeting deadlines is so crucial, as reported by Science Alert.

In this recent research, a team from the University of Toronto in Scarborough, Canada, demonstrates that adhering to deadlines is indeed significant: work submitted late is often perceived as lower quality, even if it matches the standard of work submitted on time. The researchers also found that failing to meet deadlines negatively affects the perception of the worker — their reputation diminishes.

According to co-author of the study, social psychologist Sam Maglio, he and his colleagues discovered that late submissions receive lower ratings, even if they are only slightly past the deadline. The results also suggest that submitting work early does not generally affect its perception. Simply put, as long as you successfully meet the deadline, it doesn’t matter whether you beat it by three weeks or three hours.

Overall, the team conducted 18 experiments involving a total of 6,982 participants. During the research, recipients were asked to evaluate various projects, with volunteers knowing whether they were submitted early, on time, or late.

According to co-author and behavioral marketing expert David Fang from Stanford Graduate School of Business, the detrimental impact of delays varied depending on the experiment and was significant. For instance, in one scenario using a scale from -3 to +3, the same work received an average score of 0.53 when labeled as submitted on time and 0.07 when marked as late by a day.

The researchers also found that early notification of a delay did not significantly influence people's perceptions. Moreover, they noted that past achievements in punctuality played no role. The results indicate that both the individual and their work will be viewed negatively regardless of whether there was a prior notification about the delay.

The researchers also discovered that the effect persisted across different cultures and age groups. In one of the tests conducted, students in East Asia were asked to evaluate each other's work, and the submissions that were late received lower ratings.

The good news is that providing an explanation for the delay can partially mitigate the situation. However, the researchers emphasize that the reason must be valid. At the same time, according to Maglio, a lack of clarity regarding when the work is expected to be completed can affect the chances of the employee making a positive impression.

The findings of the study were published in the journal Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes and indicate that managers need to inform employees whether a deadline is strict or flexible, while employees should strive to meet deadlines.

Researchers also found that if the reason for missing a deadline was beyond the individual’s control, they should communicate this to their manager to smooth over the situation and avoid damaging their impression.