The Importance of Following Up

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I have a rule that if I need something to continue doing my work, deliver a project on time on behalf of a client, or simply get something that I want, it is my responsibility to follow-up. I do not consider myself innocent for receiving something late unless I have followed up multiple times. 

I do appreciate that sometimes you may have the urge to NOT follow-up so you can say something like "well, you did not get us the information in time so we are delaying the launch of a project" in order to buy yourself more time for reasons that have nothing to do with the item you are following up about. There are circumstances when that tactic is helpful (I've certainly done it) but I consider that the exception and not the rule. And it is also not the best approach to buying yourself more time because it backfires easily. If you need to buy more time, the safer approach is to manage expectations early and often. 

Below are some 5 tips for following up. Note that these rules may sound like they only apply to project managers but I wholeheartedly believe that every person/role/discipline should utilize these tips. Organizations run much more smoothly when everyone takes responsibility for their own follow-up.

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The Importance of Managing Expectations

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Businesses, organizations, client relationships, and personal relationships would operate exponentially better if every person made managing expectations a conscious priority. It is essential in every job position and in every relationship. Communicating what you will be doing and when you will be doing it immediately instills confidence. Communicating quickly when things change always lessens the discomfort (no guarantees it still won't be unpleasant). 

The concept is simple but it needs to be practiced.

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Meeting Note Taking Tips

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I take notes in every meeting I attend. Even if I am not responsible for note taking, I take notes. It is now a habit and I know that I have better retention of what was discussed if I take my own notes.

Below are tips for taking productive and easy to reference meeting notes. The tips are primarily from a project manager's perspective in that my method for note taking assumes ownership for all follow-up items of all meeting attendees, not just myself. 

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Email Efficiency: Subject Lines

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At a client services agency, the producer/project manager likely gets the most volume of email. They send an incredible amount of email and are cc'ed on pretty much everything. Having spent many many years doing that job, I am all too familiar with different email styles, approaches, and missteps. 

With such uncommonly strong opinions on the topic of email, this new blog series was born. In each post, I will focus on a component of, what has become, the most common method for client communication.

First email component up for discussion: Subject Lines.

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To-Do List Tips

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There are many to-do list approaches. There are websites, mobile apps, notebooks, backs of junk mail that can be used to help keep track of everything that needs to be done. I am very supportive of any system that works for the person using it. 

I personally use Toodledo as my to-do list manager. It does everything I want from a to-do list; it sorts by due date and allows for task categories and notes. It also has a mobile app that syncs with the web-based list so when you bolt awake at 2AM remembering something you need to do, it is simple to add the task and then go back to non-stressed sleep. Based on how I organize my to-do list, the free version of Toodledo does everything I need. 

Regardless of what tool I am using, I have tricks for making my to-do list easily digestible at a glance and for keeping track of next steps.

Below are 5 key tricks that I use for my to-do list management.

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