Warm-up
Project Management & Deadlines
Project Management & Deadlines
After this lesson you'll be able to...
- Use key project management vocabulary
- Give a clear status update: on track, behind schedule, ahead of schedule
- Choose between will, going to and the present continuous for the future
- Warn about a delay and agree a new deadline politely
Get to know each other (3 minutes)
- What is the biggest project you have worked on?
- Do you usually finish things early, on time or at the last minute?
- What do you do when you realise you will miss a deadline?
- How do you like to receive project updates: email, meeting or chat?
Say it out loud
Practise a short status update. → We're on track to finish the first phase by Friday.
Fact worth knowing
Vocabulary
Project management vocabulary
Useful project phrases
| We're on track to finish by Friday. | Ми йдемо за планом і завершимо до п'ятниці. |
| We're running a bit behind schedule. | Ми трохи відстаємо від графіка. |
| The deadline has been moved to the 15th. | Крайній термін перенесли на 15-е. |
| I'll have it ready by Monday. | Я підготую це до понеділка. |
| Could you give me a status update? | Чи можете ви розповісти, як просувається робота? |
| What's holding us up? | Що нас затримує? |
| Let's reprioritise the tasks. | Давайте переглянемо пріоритети завдань. |
| I'd like to flag a risk early. | Я хотів би завчасно попередити про ризик. |
Try out the new words
Say whether a project of yours is on track. → My current project is on track / behind schedule because …
Name one risk of a project you know. → One risk is that …
Which word is it?
Fill in the missing word
Choose the correct word
Translate the phrase
Write each phrase in English.
Grammar
Future forms for plans and deadlines
| will | a decision made now, a promise, an offer: I'll send the file today. I'll call the client. |
| going to | a plan you have already decided, or a prediction from evidence: We're going to launch in May. It's going to be late — the supplier hasn't replied. |
| present continuous | a fixed arrangement with a time: We're meeting the client on Tuesday at ten. |
| will have + past participle | finished before a deadline: By Friday, we'll have finished the design. |
| by or until? | by = not later than: Send it by Friday. until = up to that time: I'm away until Friday. |
| Careful! | NOT "I'm sending it tomorrow if I will have time". After if, when, as soon as use the present: I'll call you as soon as I finish. |
Which future form?
Open the brackets
Decide: by or until?
Make a plan or a promise
Write the sentence.
Correcting mistakes
Each sentence has one mistake. Write the correct sentence.
Put the words in order
Put the words in the right order and write the full sentence.
Say it about your own work
Say what you are going to finish this week and what you will have finished by Friday. → This week I'm going to … and by Friday I'll have …
Reading
Read: a project status update
Subject: Website relaunch — status update, week 6
Hi everyone, here is a quick update. Overall we are slightly behind schedule. The design milestone is complete and the client signed off on it on Monday, but development is a bottleneck: two developers are on another project until the 20th, so the coding is going to take about a week longer than planned.
What is going well: the budget is on track, and the content team is ahead of schedule — by Friday they'll have written all 40 pages. The main risk is the payment system. The supplier hasn't confirmed the date yet, and without it we can't test properly.
Next steps: I'm meeting the supplier on Wednesday at 10:00, and I'll send you a short note straight after. We're going to hold a stakeholder call on Thursday to agree whether to move the launch date from 1 April to 8 April. Please let me know by tomorrow if that is a problem for you. Thanks, Marta, Project Manager
True or false?
The project is on track.
The client has approved the design.
Two developers are free until the 20th.
The content team will have finished all the pages by Friday.
The supplier has confirmed the date of the payment system.
Marta is meeting the supplier on Thursday.
Answer the questions
What is the main bottleneck?
What is going well?
What is the main risk?
What do the stakeholders have to decide?
Find the future forms
Write the phrase from the text.
Fill in from the text
Why is this a good update?
Your own opinion
- Should the launch date be moved? What would you recommend?
- How would you solve the bottleneck?
- What would you add to this update?
Practice
Picture the project
Plan → Milestones → Problems → Delivery. A good update says where you are and what happens next.
Match the phrase to its function
Put the words in order
Put the words in the right order and write the full sentence.
Fill in the missing phrase
Choose the best reply
Translate into English
Write each sentence in English. Several answers are possible.
A project fact
Speaking — Deliver on Time
How to use this section
Your tutor plays a manager, a client or a team member. React in real time — report progress, warn about delays, delegate and agree new dates. Use will, going to and the present continuous for the right purpose.
Giving a status update
Task: give a 45-second update on a project: where you are, what is going well, what the risk is and what happens next.
Starter: "Overall, we're on track. The first milestone is complete, and by Friday we'll have finished the second. The main risk is …"
Warning about a delay
Manager: "Will the report be ready on Friday?"
Starter: "I'd like to flag a risk early: we're running a bit behind schedule. It's going to be ready on Tuesday instead — I'll send you a revised plan today."
Agreeing a new deadline
Task: negotiate a new deadline with a client who wants it earlier.
Starter: "I understand the date is important. We can't finish by Wednesday, but we'll have everything ready by Friday morning. Would that work?"
Delegating a task
Task: delegate a task to a colleague, explain why, and give a deadline.
Starter: "Could you take over the supplier emails? I'm meeting the client on Thursday, so I won't have time. Could you finish them by Wednesday?"
Prioritising
Colleague: "We have ten tasks and only three days left."
Starter: "Let's reprioritise. The first priority is the client demo, so we're going to start with that. The rest can wait until next week."
Asking about a problem
Task: ask a colleague what is holding the project up and offer help.
Starter: "What's holding us up? If you need more people, I'll talk to the manager this afternoon."
Closing a project meeting
Task: summarise who is going to do what and by when.
Starter: "So, to recap: Anna will send the budget by Tuesday, Igor is going to call the supplier, and I'll update the client on Thursday."
Full project meeting — no stopping
Run a full project meeting with your tutor: status update, one delay, one new deadline, one delegated task and a clear summary at the end — entirely in English.
Let's talk — reflection
- Which future form did you use most? Was it the right one?
- Was it hard to warn about a delay? What helped?
- What would you do differently in a real project meeting?
Cool down
Now I can...
- Use key project management vocabulary
- Give a clear status update: on track, behind schedule, ahead of schedule
- Choose between will, going to and the present continuous for the future
- Warn about a delay and agree a new deadline politely
Quick self-check
When do we use "going to" rather than "will"?
What is the difference between "by Friday" and "until Friday"?
What tense do we use after "as soon as"?
One more thing before you go
Tell your tutor one deadline you have this week. → This week I have to … by …
Homework
- Do the exercises below and press Check in each one. Green = correct. Red shows what was expected.
- Do the writing and speaking tasks and tick them when they are done.
- Write your name and press Copy my result, then send the text to your tutor.
Words to remember
| a deadline | крайній термін |
| a milestone | ключовий етап |
| on track | за планом |
| behind schedule | відстає від графіка |
| ahead of schedule | випереджає графік |
| a stakeholder | зацікавлена сторона |
| a deliverable | результат, що передається |
| to delegate | делегувати |
| a budget | бюджет |
| resources | ресурси |
| a bottleneck | вузьке місце |
| to prioritise | розставляти пріоритети |
| the scope | обсяг проєкту |
| a status update | звіт про поточний стан |
| to sign off on | остаточно затвердити |
| a risk | ризик |
Fill in the missing word
Choose the correct future form
Open the brackets
Correct the mistake
Each sentence has one mistake. Write the correct sentence.
Translate the phrase
Write each phrase in English. Several answers are possible.
Write it yourself
Write a short status update email (6–8 sentences) about a real or imaginary project: overall status, what is going well, one risk and next steps with dates.
Practise out loud
Say your status update aloud in 45–60 seconds. Check that you used at least three dates or time expressions.
Read aloud
Read the project status update from the Reading section aloud twice before the next lesson.
- 8.7 I wrote a status update email (6–8 sentences)
- 8.8 I said my status update aloud in 45–60 seconds
- 8.9 I read the status update aloud twice