It can be so frustrating when you get a number of people that volunteer to do something and they do not do it and it lands right back in your lap. Volunteer organizations are not the only ones to have such a problem; it exists in many businesses today. I worked for one of the top five companies in North America and part of my job was to gather information from various sources. I would ask at meetings for someone to forward the information to me and often got parts of what I needed from a variety of people. About eighty percent of the volunteers would get the information to me by the deadline I set. The others invariably let me down and I had to chase them for the information. We all have things we do not like to do and this puts us at risk for procrastinating about completing the task and perhaps letting someone else down by not doing it.

Do not put yourself into the shoes of not doing what you said you would do. Take the time to schedule it in, create a milestone and reduce the risk of not completing the task. Once it is in your calendar, you will see it and you may be prompted to finish it off. No matter what you do, you are still building business relationships whether they are internal or external to your company. Always complete what you say you will do and do it in a timely fashion.

Volunteer to work on projects that can expand your expertise and further your knowledge. Avoid volunteering if you cannot do an adequate job and get the project finished in the time allotted. Doing what you say you will do is the most important aspect in building the relationship.

Bette Daoust, Ph.D. is a speaker, author (over 170 books, articles, and publications), and consultant. She has provided marketing, sales, business development and training expertise for companies such as Peet's Coffee & Tea, Varian Medical Systems, Accenture, Avaya, Cisco Systems to name a few. Dr. Daoust has also done extensive work with small businesses in developing their marketing, training, and operational plans.