Set a due date!

Need something from someone?  Establish a due date.  Seems simple, but more often than not, I see people making requests without a clear, understood, or agreed upon due date for completion of a request or task.

Don't be afraid to ask for something to be done by a given date.  It's a fair request.  Here are a few reasons why;

1. It sets your expectations.
2. It allows the person being asked to adjust their schedule to fulfill the request based on your desired timeline.
3. It allows the person fulfilling the request to "push back" and ask for more time at the outset of the request.
4. It allows the person being asked to reset your expectations of what a realistic timeline looks like.
5. Given #4, it allows you to reevaluate the scope of your request.  Perhaps you could get less sooner.
6. Determining a due date ensures that you have taken the time to think through what you need and when you need it.
7. It sets the expectations of the person fulfilling the request.  All too often I hear people complaining that so-and-so did not get back to them in a timely manner, only to find out later that they did not clearly articulate their expectation of what a "timely manner" means to them.
8. With everyone on the "same page", you have a better chance to achieve a "win-win". - Sorry for the cliches!  :)

If someone does not get you what you want by the timeframe you did not identify, you have nothing to complain about.  Be courteous, be fair, and set a due date.