And so, I just wanted to check in with you and find out where we are with this project. As you know, you'Ve missed a fairly significant deadline last week, and this will negativity impact the team's ability to move forward with the next stages of this project.
I know, I'm really sorry that I missed the deadline. But really, it wasn't my fault. You see, we had all of these unexpected technical problems at the last minute, and that I couldn't get into the database and extract the kind of information that I needed for the data analysis. You know, if the tech guys would have done their job and kept the ARM stable, then I wouldn't have missed my deadline.
Oh, come on! An excuse like that is tantamount to lying. You're essentially blaming the tech team for your time management issues, rather than accepting responsibility for the fact that you were procrastinating for the past two weeks.
No, I'm not trying to pass the buck here ; I know that it was me who is ultimately responsible for getting this done. But the thing is, I could have finished on time if the system hadn't gone down. And you know, with everything I'Ve got going on now, I can't afford to waste time dealing with technical problems. I'Ve got a lot on my plate and there are only twenty-four hours in a day. . .