Management by exception is a management style where the manager interacts with the employee only when the employee does something wrong. This could range from violating a company policy to not completing an assigned duty or missing a task deadline.

In order to effectively manage by exception, the manger must set clear goals, objectives and associated deadlines for each employee. By utilizing the principals of Management by Objectives this can be accomplished, but it is still recommended that the manger meet with each employee on a regular basis to review progress on all objectives and proactively offer help with any potential issues.

Dan Stewart
Mr. Objectives
Twitter: @MrObjectives

The first course of action is for the manager to meet with the employee to determine why the milestone dates are being missed. Each meeting should be documented with the reason for dates being missed along with an agreed upon action plan to correct. The meeting notes and agreed upon action plan should be dated and signed by the manager and employee.

Dan Stewart
Mr. Objectives
Twitter: @MrObjectives