Updated September 2026: in June 2020 I was working with a demanding onsite lead while my manager kept suggesting alternative slides that the onsite team then discarded, and nobody agreed when the document was due. I have rewritten it into advice on getting a clear submission date when iterations keep coming.
The onsite team wanted customisation for the client. My manager opposed it and suggested an alternative slide on every call. I spent my effort on his slide each day, and each day the onsite team dropped it. When I asked my manager when the document would be complete, he said by the end of the week. I doubted it, given the iterations still coming, and asked him to confirm the submission date with the onsite team.
Why does the submission date matter so much?
Because it decides how many rounds of changes are possible. Without an agreed date, every stakeholder treats the document as open, and iterations continue until someone external forces a stop. With a date, changes have to be prioritised, and the late ones are either declined or traded against something else.
Who should confirm the date?
Whoever faces the client, usually the onsite lead or account manager. Offshore estimates, including a manager's, are guesses unless they match what the client has been told. Asking your manager to validate the date with onsite, as I did, is exactly the right question. The answer needs to come back in writing.
How do you manage iterations once the date is set?
- Set a cut-off for content changes a day or two before submission.
- Keep a change list with who requested each change and whether it made it in.
- Show the trade-off plainly when a late change arrives: what moves or drops to fit it in.
What if your manager's suggestions keep getting rejected?
Raise the pattern with your manager privately, with examples: the slides built, the day they were discarded and the hours spent. Suggest that his input goes to the onsite team as a proposal first, before you build it. That way good ideas still reach the client, and rejected ones cost a message instead of a day.
What if the date is simply unrealistic?
Say so early and specifically: how many changes are pending, how long each takes and what date is achievable. A clear warning a few days ahead is far better received than a missed deadline. It also shifts the decision to the people who can change either the scope or the date.