“When will that be done by?”
It’s a simple question, but it’s one people often seem strangely reluctant to ask.
You’ll have been in the meeting. There’s been a load of debate about whatever problem is in front of you. Eventually you get somewhere. Actions are agreed. Volunteers – or conscripts – are identified to take them away. Mortal enemies put their differences aside for the common good.
Sometimes.
Everyone leaves feeling like progress has been made. We know what needs to happen and we know who is doing it.
Nobody asked when.
Maybe someone said, “we’ll meet again in a couple of weeks”, and that becomes the vague, implied timeframe for everything. But nobody actually asked the person taking the action when they think they’ll have it done.
I think part of the reason is that it can feel a bit rude. Someone has just said, “Leave it with me. I’ll sort it,” and your response is basically, “Great. By when?”
It can sound like you don’t trust them. More than that, you’ve taken something that was sitting comfortably in the world of good intentions and turned it into something much more black and white.
Tuesday. Done or not done.
That can make people uncomfortable.
Ask anyway.
If you’re relying on the action, you need to know when it’s coming. Maybe they’re thinking tomorrow and you’re thinking next week. Great. Maybe they’re thinking next month and you need it Friday. Also great, because you’ve just found out you have a problem while there’s still time to do something about it.
It doesn’t have to sound like an interrogation either.
“When do you think you’ll have that?”
“What should I put against it?”
“Are we talking this week or next?”
Whatever works.
After a while you’ll learn something else too: not all dates are equal.
There are people who’ll tell you Friday and you’d happily bet your own credibility on it being there Friday. There are others where… maybe don’t make that bet.
Either way, you know more because you asked.
And if the answer is “soon”, ask again.