A reader writes:
I frequently field “status update?” requests for my projects. But I’m not sure if I’m doing myself any favors in my approach to these emails. Some of the issue here is that I work for a micromanager (Cersei) who picks apart emails, frequently changes standards, and doesn’t communicate “behind the scenes” executive decision-making to her staff. So the result is that her staff are frequently out of the loop on project status updates.
Frequently, clients and internal staff will email my colleagues and I and request status updates. These emails may just be the polite “checking in on this this…” message. But often, the sender is quite frustrated or confused about the delay. They mark the message as urgent and explain in detail the importance of their work, the issues caused by the delay etc. The delay in these situations is nearly always caused by Cersei. And, given Cersei’s poor communication standards, its impossible to know the reason or stakes of this delay. Is it perhaps that the project got lost in her inbox and she forgot about it? Or is there some massive, company-wide issue happening that has put the entire project in jeopardy? As her staff, we usually do not know.
Anyway, I acknowledge that I can’t control Cersei’s behavior or reptuation but I recognize that I can control mine. When I get these emails, I try my best to advocate the issue to Cersei. I forward her the email, provide her the context that I’m aware of and ask for a status update or if I can pass along a response to the client. If she doesn’t respond within a day or two, I escalate the issue to an in-person question with her. Usually its just a waiting game for a reply.
But what should I say, if anything, to the client while I wait for Cersei to respond? I consider acknowledging a problem to be good customer service. So I often reply with a short email to (1) acknowledge the issue/its urgency, (2) let them know that the project is being reviewed by our manager, and (3) tell them I will provide an update when I have it. (In the past, Cersei has told me I can “blame her” for delays so I feel comfortable citing the part management plays in the delay as part of this email.) Sometimes this helps and the client feels like their voice is heard. In other instances, they are just further frustrated and attempt to escalate the issue to Cersei (who won’t respond) or someone else (who then also emails or calls me).
My colleagues, on the other hand, aren’t providing these “holding pattern” replies. In some cases, they let the emails sit while they wait for an update from Cersei. I’m sure they don’t want to deal with a frustrated client or take blame for a delay that isn’t their fault. But is there professional merit to this approach as well? When they eventually respond, they have an answer. But when I respond, I risk looking like I am bad at my job. Which method would be better in this work environment? Or is this all a moot point given Cersei’s behavior?
It’s better to respond, even if it’s to say you don’t have an answer yet, rather than to let a message go unacknowledged for days and days.
There are definitely other people like your coworkers out there, who don’t think they need to acknowledge a message until they have an actual answer to it, and those people are baffling.
I mean, it’s fine to wait if you’re just waiting a few hours (that’s generally preferable to sending a bunch of emails that just say “I will find out” when you’re going to email with the answer a few hours later). But waiting days to acknowledge the message means the other person has to wonder: Did you see their email or did it get lost or accidentally deleted? Are you out of the office and they should be contacting someone else instead? Are you just not on top of your work? And if it’s the latter, are you going to move with a sense of urgency on anything, or do they now have to feel uneasy about your work in general?
That all said, this is about what kind of band-aid is best to put on a bigger problem, which is Cersei’s poor communication.
And I’m specifying her communication, not her holds-ups, because it’s perfectly plausible that she’s making the right decisions about what to prioritize and what to push back and when to put a project on hold until more information is known. The issue is that she’s not relaying enough information to you for you to make your own good decisions.
It sounds like you might have talked to Cersei about this in the past, given that she’s told you it’s okay for you to blame her. But I’d go back and talk with her again and say something like, “I’m finding that clients and internal staff are increasingly frustrated when I’m not able to give them a status update about a project because it’s moved past me to you and I’m not sure what your timeline is for sending it back. You’ve said in the past that it’s okay to blame you, but people are looking less for who it’s with and more for something concrete about where it stands and when they’re likely to see it. Is there a way to get more transparency into where projects stand once they’re with you and what your likely timeline is on them? Maybe even just having a quick meeting to touch base once or twice a week would help.”
(And if you already do have standing weekly check-in’s with her, start using those to help with this issue! If you’re not doing this already already, in those meetings start doing a quick rundown of your projects that are with her and ask if she can update you on them. You’re allowed to ask this about your own projects.)
If she’s resistant to that, then say: “Can you give me your advice on how I should handle it when I don’t have status info for someone and they’re clearly frustrated? Much of the time, they’ll tell me about the problems the hold-up is causing, and I think I come across as not taking it seriously when I’m not able to give them any answer.”
If this doesn’t get you any improvements, then at that point your best bet is to reply to people with something like, “I’m so sorry for the delay. The work is with Cersei for approval, and I don’t have a clear answer from her yet on when it’s coming back. I’m going to see what I can find out from her and will update you as soon as I have an answer.” And then do what you’ve been doing — check with Cersei, and follow up with her in person if that doesn’t bear fruit. (In fact, it might be more effective to just start with the in-person step from the beginning — if she’s not responsive to emails, don’t feel you have to go through the motions of trying email first. It’s fine to move straight to what you know works more often.)
I’d also add an additional step, which is keeping the other person updated — meaning that after a couple of days go by, you might send them another email that says, “I want to let you know this is still on my radar. I’m waiting to hear back from Cersei and I’ll follow up again and let you know as soon as I hear anything.” That tells that that someone is still on the case, and that even though they’re not getting the answer they wanted in the timeframe they wanted it, you’re not being cavalier about it and you haven’t forgotten about them. They know you can’t control your boss, but most people will appreciate you showing that you’re trying to help and are taking their request seriously.
my coworkers want status updates — but I don’t have them because my boss is a bottleneck was originally published by Alison Green on Ask a Manager.
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