Following up on action items
Following up on action items sometimes feels like an adventure
This post is the part 1 of several to discuss what to do after a meeting ends. The first thing you should do is follow up on action items. The obvious action after a meeting for you as facilitator is to follow up with anyone who took an action item. I highly recommend reminding action item holders early and often. Check in with them to see if things are going well. There are some issues you might run into plus mental and emotional blocks that sometimes happen. Here is some advice on how to manage each of these situations.
Am I being a pest when I follow up?
1) I am worried that I am bothering the person. Remedy: If it was important enough to be documented as part of the action items and the person accepted the action item, then a quick reminder isn’t bothering them. Consider times that you needed to finish some work and you got a gentle reminder. How did that make you feel? I know I am always thankful as it lets me finish it before its late.
Did the person get cold feet after accepting an action item?
2) The person doesn't have time for/is backing out of competing the action item. Remedy: Get a new date or a new person to be accountable. Press the person and remind them of the importance of this piece of work. Often they will realize that they bit off too much and they need someone else with more experience to take the item or they need an extra week/day. If needed get on the phone with them to discuss the issues and come up with a new plan.
3) A manager/executive told them they don’t need to do it. Remedy: Dig in and find out what is going on. You often can find out a lot of extremely valuable information from this type of incident. Maybe there is a change in direction on the bigger project and you would want to know asap.
Maybe they had too many beers?
4) The person completely forgot and now says they don’t have time. Remedy: Get a new date! Next time remind them more often and earlier. if they really can’t do it and its extremely time sensitive, ask for a name of someone else who can get it done by the deadline.
I hope these ideas for how to get results on your action items help. Try sharing this blog with a co-worker who you think would enjoy it.
Next time we look at how to do a postmortem to continuously improve your meeting facilitation techniques.
