Scenario: You’re in charge of compiling a newsletter for your organization. Having learned the value of delegating, you ask a few people to contribute articles. You outsource the actual production to a local printing company. You tell your boss everything’s under control, and she assures the CEO that the newsletter will go out by the end of the month. Next thing you know, it’s the 29th and the printer is calling to see when you’ll be sending her the copy. She needs it today. Ack! The newsletter! You forgot all about it, because you were waiting for the contributors to send you their articles. But only one has come through so far. You’re in trouble now!
How many projects, professional or personal, do you have that depend on other people? How many have stalled because someone didn’t deliver? Being forgetful, we often don’t remember what we’re waiting for, or when it was supposed to have been done. We have no sense of time, so two days can turn into two months before we realize that the project isn’t moving.
The trick to making sure things don’t fall through the cracks is to plan to follow up. When someone says they will do something for you, ask when you can expect it. Decide, right then, when you will follow up, and put a note on your calendar. Depending on the circumstances, you might also let the other person know. “Mind if I check in with you in a few weeks?”
Some people are squeamish about following up. They don’t want to impose. They figure the person’s busy, or they’re worried about what he might say. In my fifteen years as a project manager, where I routinely followed up on things as part of my job, not once did anyone give me a hard time about it. My gentle reminders were invariably appreciated. The way I see it, they already agreed to do the task, so I’m not asking for a favor. I’m just asking for an update. If they’re late, they’re the ones who should feel bad, not me.
People generally fail to follow through on their commitments because they forgot, or they got busy and de-prioritized the task because they weren’t sure it was still important. Letting them know the task still matters will help them prioritize it more favorably. If they’re no longer able to do it, you need to know that, so you can make other arrangements.
Everyone is busy. Having to juggle constantly changing priorities is not exclusive to ADHD (although we certainly struggle with it more). So give people a hand when they commit to helping you. Give them a follow-up. Mark it on your calendar so you don’t forget.
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