“FU!!!” is the short version I mutter under my breath. “Will you please FU?” is the long version. Then there’s the “What do you mean, no FU yet again?”

“FU” stands for “follow up.” It’s in short supply these days especially with many of the financial institutions and other organizations I’ve been working with over the past eight months related to my late dad. (As the oldest child, I was tasked with serving as his executor.) And it exists in business too, including with some of the people I encounter in my work.

Good follow up seems to be the exception rather than the norm these days. Other than the accountants I’ve been working with, very few seem able to consistently deliver on the commitments they make. Instead, many go radio silent. Initially I felt like maybe I was walking on ice, eggshells, broken glass or whatever.

But poor or non-existent follow up—or FU as I informally call it—is more than making responsible people feel they’re bugging others while being inconvenienced themselves.

Lack of follow-up causes many substantive problems in addition to sucking up time that you’ll never recover while adding more weight to the cognitive load you’re already carrying. We responsible ones also note these downsides to slow or no follow-up, as we also mutter under our breath (as noted in italics):

• Delays and missed deadlines: What could have taken hours or days takes weeks and months due to stoppages, inefficiencies, and blockades. Missed deadlines also can create additional problems especially if paperwork needs to be filed by certain dates to meet legal requirements. (I’ve lost track of how many people I’ve told: “I’m explaining this to you because my father can’t come to the phone (or email). He died __ number of months ago.” This direct statement often eliminates some of the hoops they want me to jump through.)

• Miscommunication and confusion: Lack of clarity about expectations, roles and next steps leads to misunderstandings, which further cause work slowdowns and stoppages. (Why couldn’t they have told me that was a “must have” document, rather than a “nice to have”? We’ve wasted at least four weeks!)

• Minimal to no accountability: Without feeling a sense of accountability, individuals may ignore, forget or deprioritize tasks. (Wonder what happened to those account statements promised to me in late November?)

• Eroded trust and credibility: When follow-up actions are inconsistent, incomplete and/or non-existent, it’s easy to question individuals’ reliability, ability, and responsibility. Relationships get frayed and/or damaged. (You expect me to work with whom? No way! Never again!)
  

• Increased stress and frustration: Chasing people to get answers and information is not just time consuming; it’s stressful and frustrating. (It’s got to be 5 pm somewhere. I’d love a drink.)  
  

• Lost opportunities: Individuals who are slow, sloppy, and thoughtless miss out on future business and other opportunities. They also run the risk of receiving bad reviews. (A la the Stillwater, OK law firm that lives up to Stillwater’s disparaging reputation: Still water breeds still minds. For more than 6 months, they didn’t bother answering any emails or phone calls from our regular lawyers or my siblings and me.)

How do you avoid these problems? My lessons learned are as follows:

1. Set clear expectations at the beginning. Agree on deadlines, the tasks involved and who’s doing what, preferred ways to communicate with one another (email, texts, portals, etc.), and the protocols for checking in and following up. Document what you agree to, ideally using some form of task management tool.

2. Share contact information. Exchange cell phone numbers in addition to names, email addresses, and best hours to reach each other. Ask about any upcoming vacations or other periods when individuals may be out of the office or unavailable. Besides getting helpful information, you’re showing that you’re serious about keeping the task/project on track and everyone accountable.

3. Be specific and concise, as well as make clear calls to action. Make sure all of your requests are clear, actionable, and reasonable, especially when setting time and other deadline expectations. And make it easy to respond to your requests.

4. Make accountability feel like a reward, rather than a punishment. Reinforce how much you appreciate and expect responsiveness. Be sure to recognize and praise individuals when they show effort, meet deadlines and fulfill other expectations. Acknowledge them vocally and in writing. And offer to write reviews. The tangible reviews and emails that can be shared with bosses and others help reinforce good behavior.5.

 5. Lead by example. Model timely follow-up behavior to set the standard for others and show them what good behavior looks like.

 6. Stay on top of the issues. Check in at key milestones, rather than wait until the deadline has approached or passed. This helps you address issues sooner than later. And if delays persist, directly address them. You want to uncover and resolve root causes before a small delay turns into a big problem.

7. Strengthen connections with those who meet their commitments and drop those who don’t. Life is too short to spend excessive amounts of time working with people who don’t follow up and when they do are often slow, sloppy, and inaccurate. Instead, I want to work with people who follow up, follow through, and get things done well.

My wish for you: May these lessons learned keep you from experiencing bad “FU” moments. And may you even enjoy good follow up!

And if you have your own lessons to share, please do. All the better to keep us out of “FU” hell!