How to Create an Effective Follow-Up Plan

This article is an excerpt from the Shortform book guide to "Crucial Accountability" by Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, et al.. Shortform has the world's best summaries and analyses of books you should be reading.

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Do you always follow up after having an important discussion? What is the most effective follow-up strategy?

The book Crucial Accountability teaches that an effective follow-up strategy is just as important as having an accountability conversation. If you don’t follow up with an action plan after a difficult conversation, then you will lose any progress you’ve made.

Learn how to follow up and create a follow-up plan below.

Create an Effective Follow-Up Plan

After you’ve successfully discussed an accountability issue and determined a solution, the authors of Crucial Accountability recommend creating a plan of action and then following up to ensure that everyone follows the agreed-upon plan. The plan of action is the first step in practicing an effective follow-up.

While this step seems pretty straightforward, don’t underestimate its importance; leaving the plan of action and follow-up vague could undermine the hard work and planning you put into preparing for the effective follow up conversation and developing a solution.

Determining Who Does What and When

The first part of creating a plan of action is identifying the specific tasks that need to be completed, who needs to do them, and when they need to be done. For example, if the agreement is that the other person will work on being more creative, you might say: “I want you to come up with three new ideas for how to market our product each week by noon on Friday.” Being specific is the an important aspect of effective follow up.

The authors especially emphasize the importance of being clear about who will complete each task. Avoid using vague statements like “let’s come up with three new ideas.” Terms like “let’s” and “we” undermine accountability. If one person is required to complete the task, make it clear that they are the one responsible.

They also advise that you be specific when naming deadlines. Statements like “complete it by next week” or even “by the end of next week” are too vague. Set an exact date and time: “Please have it done by Friday at noon.” This removes any room for misinterpretation.

Once it’s clear what needs to be done, who needs to do it, and when, check for understanding—ask if there are any questions about specifics such as quality, quantity, characteristics, or anything else the other person might be confused about.

(Shortform note: Experts second the authors’ argument here, explaining that the three things necessary for an employee to effectively complete a task are clear goals, detailed parameters, and accurate deadlines. No matter how self-sufficient, responsible, or hard-working someone is, they can’t effectively meet expectations without certain structures and boundaries.)

Following Up

After determining the plan of action, the authors assert that you must determine when and how to follow up on the results. While you don’t want to make the other person feel micromanaged, you also don’t want to take an entirely hands-off approach. To determine how soon after the conversation you need to follow up and the appropriate frequency and method, consider the following questions:

1) How important or risky is the task: If the task is very important or complicated, you should closely monitor the situation by following up soon after the discussion.

2) Can you trust that they will perform the task well? If the other person has not proved reliable or has little experience, you may need multiple follow-ups throughout the process to check on their progress.

How to Create an Effective Follow-Up Plan