How good is your follow up?

By Jamie MorleyFebruary 5, 2023

Of everything you agree to do what % of time do you do it and do it within the agreed time frame? Ask yourself this question honestly.

Maybe you have a clear list of things that you have agreed to and by when, so it is easy to go back and see what % of those you actually did. On the other hand, perhaps you sometimes agree to things verbally and then they slip out of your mind, you don’t note them down and then you realise that you didn’t do what you said you would do.

Sometimes in leadership roles, the amount of things on our plate is very significant. Principal dentists or orthodontists face this challenge as much and possibly more than other leaders as they are trying to lead the practice or business as well as having their own clinical time with patients. As a result, it is easy to say and almost feel that you have the excuse of being too busy and so sorry, I just couldn’t do that thing that I said I would do. To you it might not seem important, but to that person it is and actually you are breaking an agreement by not doing this which impacts the trust that person has with you on any other agreement. In addition, it sets an example of not following through which can then creep into the culture with others not following through on things you are wanting them to do. They will also say they are too busy…….

I personally found this really challenging at times and this was largely down to my want to take things on, to an extent to please others and also my general over-optimism in how much time and effort it would take me to get those things done. Over-optimism is a cognitive bias that exists across genders, ethnicities, nationalities and age. Multiple studies have shown that when it comes to predicting what will happen in the future we overestimate the likelihood of positive events and underestimate the likelihood of negative events.

What can we do to change this?

1. Awareness - The first step is to be very honest about what your level of percentage is. You can ask your team members for their view on the same question about you. What would you say is my % level of follow up on doing what I say I would do within the agreed time? For some the follow up will be very high. I do think that personality is partly related to this. If you are someone who is always coming up with lots of different ideas and gets excited by new things, then it is possible that your follow through might not be that high. On the other hand you may be a real doer and so this follow up is very natural to you and you will feel very uncomfortable if you haven’t done it. There are other pros and cons to these personality styles,  but be really honest about your follow through percentage.

2. Know when you are committing - The second step is then to recognise the moment you are committing. Be present and recognise that moment. It is easy to agree to do something almost unconsciously on auto-pilot. Recognise that moment.

3. How important is it? - Does it need to be done at all? Does it fall within your key strategies and your values? What is the level of impact?

4. Can somebody else do this? - Can somebody else do this who is perhaps better suited to doing it, has the competence to do it and the capacity.

5. What is the time commitment involved with doing this? - How much time will it take to do this?

6. Add 50% - To offset the over-optimism bias add 50% to the amount of time you estimate.

7. When and where will you do this? - This forces you to picture in your mind if you can really find the time to do this.

8. What will you stop doing? - When you commit to something it is replacing something else that you would have done. Even if that was some time to yourself, or time to think more longer term about the business. Is the thing you are committing to more important?

9. Say no! - If you cannot find the time and this item isn’t as important as what you are doing then you have to say no. Explain why and give your priorities. Open dialogue.

10. Agree exactly when it will be done by - There are often many assumptions made about timings of when things will be done by. Even saying immediately is not specific. Immediately to you may be within 5 minutes, immediately to me may be within 2 hours. Be very specific.

Keep an eye on your follow up and make sure you are setting the example.