Following through: a personal commitments list that builds trust
A foreman stops you at the stairs to ask about access for tomorrow. You promise to call back after the coordination meeting. By late afternoon, the foreman has waited all day and you have answered six newer requests.
Write down each promise when you make it, with the person, deliverable and due time, then close it or renegotiate before it is due. Keep this personal list separate from the project's issue register. A small promise can affect someone else's plan even when it never appears in the formal meeting minutes. Trust grows from the visible follow-through, not from saying yes to every request.
- Capture the promise in one place as soon as the conversation ends. Record what you actually committed to do, including a response or decision, rather than only the topic.
- Choose a realistic due time with the person asking. If another party must decide, promise to obtain an update by a time you can manage instead of promising their approval.
- Review the list at the start of the day and before key breaks. Put time-sensitive commitments into your routine so the next urgent call does not automatically displace them.
- Act on the promise and record the result. If it created a project action, link to that register entry while retaining your own commitment to give the person the answer.
- Warn the person before a due time you cannot meet. Explain the constraint, agree a revised time or alternative and state what they should plan in the meantime.
- Close the loop directly when the result is available. Mark the commitment complete only after the person has received the promised information or action, not merely after you sent a question elsewhere.
Common mistakes
- Writing a topic such as 'access' without recording the promised answer.
- Promising another person's decision instead of your own follow-up.
- Marking the item done when you forwarded it to someone else.
- Explaining a missed deadline only after the person comes looking for you.
Checklist
Before you leave today
- Today's promises captured
- Recipient and deliverable clear
- Due times realistic
- Pending dependencies identified
- At-risk promises renegotiated
- Completed results communicated
Check your understanding
You promised an answer today, but the designer has not replied. What should you tell the foreman?
Show the answer
Give a timely update, explain what remains unresolved and agree the next contact or workable alternative. Do not imply that silence is approval. Your commitment to communicate is still yours even when the technical decision belongs to someone else.
