FV and FVP Forum > Best Practice - Waiting for
At work, I put a reminder on outlook for the day I want to be reminded to follow up (usually early in the morning). I put enough details in the reminder task, or just use the relevant email to create the calendar task, so I don't have to go searching for the info before I do the followup. When the reminder pops up, then it goes on the list for the day.
If I don't need to follow up with something until next week, I don't want to keep tripping over that task all week long.
At home, it's similar but a little more lo-tech - I put a sticky note on the wall calendar to follow up
If I don't need to follow up with something until next week, I don't want to keep tripping over that task all week long.
At home, it's similar but a little more lo-tech - I put a sticky note on the wall calendar to follow up
April 24, 2012 at 17:02 |
Lillian
Lillian
Not liking obscure symbols, I use a question mark as in:
Bill replied?
Like Lillian, if something doesn't need following up for a week or so I'll create a reminder for it to go on the list.
Bill replied?
Like Lillian, if something doesn't need following up for a week or so I'll create a reminder for it to go on the list.
April 24, 2012 at 18:08 |
Mark Forster
Mark Forster
I mark out the item and add a new item at the end of the list with A/R on the front end of the line, meaning Awaiting Reply. Also use F/U (follow up) if I want to remember to verify something I delegated to someone else actually got done.
April 24, 2012 at 20:41 |
Dave D
Dave D
Mark,
Managing other people means that I have a lot of follow up items. Having it on my FV list helps me to remember what I am waiting for from an individual when I meet them for example in the passage way. I can then ask "How is it going for xxx".
I also use Outlook and as described above I add a $ sign. I actually add a $ sign followed by the individuals initials.
Then when I have a meeting with them, I can then easily type in the searchbox $..followed by the initials to determine what I am waiting for, for this individual.
I also like my calender to be clean. With clean I mean that it should only have firm deadlines and appointments on. Nothing else. It thus has the stuff on that I can absolutely not miss. Adding future follow ups would swamp out these entries. (I understand however that if you do not have employees and thus not a lot of follow up items that this can work OK to add it to your calender.)
Managing other people means that I have a lot of follow up items. Having it on my FV list helps me to remember what I am waiting for from an individual when I meet them for example in the passage way. I can then ask "How is it going for xxx".
I also use Outlook and as described above I add a $ sign. I actually add a $ sign followed by the individuals initials.
Then when I have a meeting with them, I can then easily type in the searchbox $..followed by the initials to determine what I am waiting for, for this individual.
I also like my calender to be clean. With clean I mean that it should only have firm deadlines and appointments on. Nothing else. It thus has the stuff on that I can absolutely not miss. Adding future follow ups would swamp out these entries. (I understand however that if you do not have employees and thus not a lot of follow up items that this can work OK to add it to your calender.)
April 25, 2012 at 6:29 |
Nico
Nico
I use a separate lists in Clear (I'm sure this would be easily replicated in any other digital format) for each person I meet with with items for each thing I need to give or receive from them when we meet.
April 25, 2012 at 6:58 |
Zack Allen
Zack Allen
Since I do work with TaskPaper and FV, I have the following structure for recording items:
task [ FOR Project ] [ : comments / notes ] [ @ day | done ]
- preselected task [ FOR Project ] [ : comments / notes ] [ @ day | done ]
action | item waiting for FROM source [ FOR Project ] [ request date ] [ : comments / notes ] [ @ day | done ]
- preselected action | item waiting for FROM source [ FOR Project ] [ request date ] [ : comments / notes ] [ @ day | done ]
It is easy to distinguish and to search for "items" I am waiting for: the line does start with a noun and contains the word "from" …
task [ FOR Project ] [ : comments / notes ] [ @ day | done ]
- preselected task [ FOR Project ] [ : comments / notes ] [ @ day | done ]
action | item waiting for FROM source [ FOR Project ] [ request date ] [ : comments / notes ] [ @ day | done ]
- preselected action | item waiting for FROM source [ FOR Project ] [ request date ] [ : comments / notes ] [ @ day | done ]
It is easy to distinguish and to search for "items" I am waiting for: the line does start with a noun and contains the word "from" …
April 25, 2012 at 8:26 |
Stefano F. Rausch
Stefano F. Rausch
I always liked the GTD idea of separate agenda pages for each person in your life or that you manage. If you have something to discuss with them, you put it on that page and then review the items when you meet with that person. 'Waiting for' items could go here.
But I don't manage people, so it's only a nice idea for me!
I use the abbreviation WO (waiting on) at the start of a line. So "WO Jim re agenda" - just enough text to remind me of what I'm waiting on. Like others have mentioned, there's a bit of judgement as to timing. I typically use WO when I need a reply within a week or shorter, or if I'm firing through lots of stuff and don't want to take the time to calculate when exactly I want a reminder message to appear. (We use Lotus Notes at work, so it's a fiddly process.) When I go through the list again, if I know the reminder can wait a bit (say the person is out of town), I'll dot the task and then set an automated reminder in Notes.
I picked up lots of abbreviations like this over the years from using Day-Timers, Lotus Agenda apps, etc. and they're still handy to have around.
But I don't manage people, so it's only a nice idea for me!
I use the abbreviation WO (waiting on) at the start of a line. So "WO Jim re agenda" - just enough text to remind me of what I'm waiting on. Like others have mentioned, there's a bit of judgement as to timing. I typically use WO when I need a reply within a week or shorter, or if I'm firing through lots of stuff and don't want to take the time to calculate when exactly I want a reminder message to appear. (We use Lotus Notes at work, so it's a fiddly process.) When I go through the list again, if I know the reminder can wait a bit (say the person is out of town), I'll dot the task and then set an automated reminder in Notes.
I picked up lots of abbreviations like this over the years from using Day-Timers, Lotus Agenda apps, etc. and they're still handy to have around.
April 25, 2012 at 15:01 |
Mike Brown
Mike Brown
My approach is influenced by GTD. I keep a separate list titled WF (Waiting For). When an item on my FV list is "completed" (i.e. order placed, E-mail sent, task delegated), but requires some type of follow-up, I simply add it to my WF list.
I then add a new task to the end of my FV list: Review WF
I then add a new task to the end of my FV list: Review WF
April 25, 2012 at 19:59 |
Thomas W
Thomas W
I don't manage people, but do run several projects and teams at work and with volunteer organizations. These things require lots of delegation and follow-up.
Like others above, I also use the GTD-inspired practice of an agenda page for every person with whom I regularly meet. I treat these like any other project. When I have a task and I realize I need to discuss it with NNN, then I move the task to that person's page. I also have a recurring task for each of these people: "NNN agenda - what's next?" This prompts me to review the things that have been accumulating on that page, double check when we have our next scheduled meeting, send an email or make a phone call or schedule a new meeting if needed, etc.
For people with whom I do NOT regularly meet, these kinds of tasks can take all kinds of different forms.
Sometimes it's just an email copied from Outlook to OneNote: "Seraphim, I will ask T. to call you. -B.". That's enough to get me to follow up with "B." as needed if I still haven't heard from T..
Sometimes it's just a random text entry: "Did MMM find the spy?" or "When does AAA want to transplant the saguarro?" or "Did VVV finish the chicken roof?"
Sometimes it's a snippet of text copied from a Facebook post.
All kinds of stuff.
The form doesn't seem to matter very much to me.
Like others above, I also use the GTD-inspired practice of an agenda page for every person with whom I regularly meet. I treat these like any other project. When I have a task and I realize I need to discuss it with NNN, then I move the task to that person's page. I also have a recurring task for each of these people: "NNN agenda - what's next?" This prompts me to review the things that have been accumulating on that page, double check when we have our next scheduled meeting, send an email or make a phone call or schedule a new meeting if needed, etc.
For people with whom I do NOT regularly meet, these kinds of tasks can take all kinds of different forms.
Sometimes it's just an email copied from Outlook to OneNote: "Seraphim, I will ask T. to call you. -B.". That's enough to get me to follow up with "B." as needed if I still haven't heard from T..
Sometimes it's just a random text entry: "Did MMM find the spy?" or "When does AAA want to transplant the saguarro?" or "Did VVV finish the chicken roof?"
Sometimes it's a snippet of text copied from a Facebook post.
All kinds of stuff.
The form doesn't seem to matter very much to me.
April 26, 2012 at 0:08 |
Seraphim
Seraphim
+JMJ+
I'm not using FV, but maybe how I approach "Waiting For" items could help: I use "Check (item)", eg. "Check on cake", "Check on Mike," "Check laundry".
I'm not using FV, but maybe how I approach "Waiting For" items could help: I use "Check (item)", eg. "Check on cake", "Check on Mike," "Check laundry".
April 26, 2012 at 9:05 |
nuntym
nuntym
The frequent full list scanning in FV requires more brevity and specificity in first few words of the task. The following titles for "Waiting For Mike" are sorted in rough order of increasing preference for FV, as I see it ...
Waiting For Mike
Check Mike
$Mike
Mike replied?
Mike F/U?
Mike?
You likely have many "waiting for" items, seeing it multiple times during the scanning slows/numbs you. You likely have less or one "Mike" item. Putting it in front leads to quicker scanning while pre-selecting.
If you have a task "Followup all items", having "$" prefix might help easier searching for those followup items on paper.
But if you use Evernote Windows its quick search/filter allows you easily show all tasks containing "replied" or "F/U" whether the word is prefixed or suffixed. BTW, bare punctuations such as "$" doesn't work well in Evernote, since its search engine ignores punctuation, similar to google.
Waiting For Mike
Check Mike
$Mike
Mike replied?
Mike F/U?
Mike?
You likely have many "waiting for" items, seeing it multiple times during the scanning slows/numbs you. You likely have less or one "Mike" item. Putting it in front leads to quicker scanning while pre-selecting.
If you have a task "Followup all items", having "$" prefix might help easier searching for those followup items on paper.
But if you use Evernote Windows its quick search/filter allows you easily show all tasks containing "replied" or "F/U" whether the word is prefixed or suffixed. BTW, bare punctuations such as "$" doesn't work well in Evernote, since its search engine ignores punctuation, similar to google.
April 26, 2012 at 11:28 |
sabre23t
sabre23t
Here is how i do
When it is current items to follow i just do:
W- john replied ?
W- follow mr bean decision 5/5/12
W- whats about result of comity 6/5/12
If it is very important ie
W- taxe acount 7/5/12 To pay 15/5/12
I also put a reminder in my diary on 15/5/12
When it is current items to follow i just do:
W- john replied ?
W- follow mr bean decision 5/5/12
W- whats about result of comity 6/5/12
If it is very important ie
W- taxe acount 7/5/12 To pay 15/5/12
I also put a reminder in my diary on 15/5/12
April 26, 2012 at 13:09 |
Jupiter
Jupiter
I create a task in FV with a $ in front so that I can easily see at a glance the stuff I am waiting for. When I am creating my FV chain and I get to this type of item, I will ask if I want to follow up this with person before the previous selected item.
I can also then see items that have long since been followed up. (They will be at the top of my list).
I do have a entry that states "Follow up all items". This will then basically mean that I go in "Follow up mode" and try to follow up all the $ items on my list.
Any other tips or ideas, maybe you have a seperate "Waiting for list"?