Be Clear About Timeframes

In general, have a time or timeframe accompany any discussion about the future. For example, if you state that sales of the new widget need to increase by 10%, expect your audience immediately to ask, “How quickly does that change need to happen? ”

If you can’t offer a specific deadline, or even a specific timeframe or date range, you may want to employ a common trio: short term, medium term, and long term. Just how soon the short term is will vary by application. Short term might mean a couple of days, or the current quarter year, or a couple of years, but the short term is always less than the medium term and less than the long term.

The point is to consider helping anyone consuming your communication, analysis, proposal, or other information by setting a specific time, a time frame, or a relative time category.

Application

Sometimes, it is clear that you should act immediately, as in, “Please turn down the music.” Obviously, the person making the request does not mean for you to lower the volume tomorrow. In business, clear, specific, unambiguous dates and times are desirable. For example, “I will get to that soon” is not as helpful as “I will get to that within the hour.” and “We will strive to resolve your issues promptly” is not as clear as, “Our agreement requires that we restore service within 4 hours.”

Unfortunately, such precision is not always possible, in which case you should remove the potential for a mismatch in expectations by stating some broad date and time ranges. If that still is too difficult, use timeframe categories, such as the near, medium, and long term. Note this is similar to offering projections under different scenarios, such as conservative / pessimistic, moderate, or aggressive / optimistic.

For the short term, consider:

This issue is right in front of us.
I am talking about the here and now.
We are talking about right away, not 3 to 5 years down the road.
Actions need to be taken immediately, without delay.

For the long term, consider:

This is an issue that is over the horizon.
I am looking far into the future.
We are talking not about today or tomorrow, but 3 to 5 years down the road.
I am addressing not what is in front of us now; I am looking around the corner.

The point is to be as specific as you can. If you must be vague, with customers, investors, the media, etc., try framing the issue by offering three contrasting timelines, to prevent folks thinking you mean one kind of schedule or pace when you really mean another.