I work in a professional services role and was recently assigned a project with a timeline that didn’t match the actual scope of work.
At the beginning, I raised concerns that the deadline looked unrealistic and shared that more time or better planning would likely be needed. Those concerns weren’t really addressed, and the original timeline stayed in place.
Now that the deadline is approaching, I’m being asked for a revised completion date. I gave my honest estimate based on the remaining work required, but I’m getting resistance because it’s later than expected.
What’s frustrating is that a lot of time has gone into discussions about timelines instead of solving the workload itself.
How do you handle situations like this professionally? Do you keep repeating realistic estimates, escalate, document everything, or just focus on finishing as best you can?