I work in a project-heavy, multi-discipline design environment, and I’ve found that only about 10% of tasks I’m waiting on get done without a reminder. That means 90% of the time, someone drops the ball unless I follow up.
To stay on top of it, I heavily use the “snooze email” function on sent messages when I’ve passed along my portion of the work and am waiting on someone else. That snoozed email reappears in my inbox as a built-in reminder to check in on them.
I also keep a "Waiting For" tag in my task manager that I use a deadline for when I need to check in on the status of the response.
From my experience, most people operate out of their current inbox, tackling what’s unread as their to-do list. So if I need something from them, I make sure I show up there.
@Jenny - this is smart. And yes, frustrating that you're reminding people 90% of the time. I agree that a lot of people simply manage their to-do lists from their inboxes, which seems like a really bad idea...but is true.
I work in a project-heavy, multi-discipline design environment, and I’ve found that only about 10% of tasks I’m waiting on get done without a reminder. That means 90% of the time, someone drops the ball unless I follow up.
To stay on top of it, I heavily use the “snooze email” function on sent messages when I’ve passed along my portion of the work and am waiting on someone else. That snoozed email reappears in my inbox as a built-in reminder to check in on them.
I also keep a "Waiting For" tag in my task manager that I use a deadline for when I need to check in on the status of the response.
From my experience, most people operate out of their current inbox, tackling what’s unread as their to-do list. So if I need something from them, I make sure I show up there.
@Jenny - this is smart. And yes, frustrating that you're reminding people 90% of the time. I agree that a lot of people simply manage their to-do lists from their inboxes, which seems like a really bad idea...but is true.
So useful! I usually treat myself to a mental blank when the item is on someone else’s list. This is so helpful.