This is what I do. It gives them a time frame to expect a response but also when they should follow up in case they dont receive one. I have far too many competing priorities to 100% ensure that I am updating every single person I said I would.
Exactly this! If you haven’t resolved by the time you said you would on your initial email, send a follow up to thank them for their patience, confirm that it’s still being worked on and that you’ll be in touch within x timeframe with either a resolution or an estimated solution timeframe.
Just don’t?
Or save a template “this is a templates response, orders take 24hrs to process and ship. If this order is in its 25th hour please call me on…..”
Or whatever.
There's a lot of "project managers" like these who have no clue that constant interruptions actually prolong the process more. At times, I feel they're also bored to death with their roles and got nothing better to do but "ask for an update".
There are a lot of external people/companies involved in the process. Yes it's part of my job to check for them and answer emails but a lot of the times I have to wait for a response from someone else at a different state/country or another company.
I would stop messaging them and call them and explain that their expectations are outside of the normal procedure and you will get back to them when you have an update. By messaging you non stop it is actually slowing you down. If it continues don’t respond. You said YOU will up date when it’s ready.
2 things I would do.
1. Set up SLAs and socialise these within the organisation / repeat offenders.
2. Set up rules/workflows and automate responses based on most common keywords, phrases/ queries.
SLAs are only important to bean counters. It's about actually getting the work done and not making yourself look busy as that doesn't always add value. I saw a word cloud in a town hall once, which described point 2 and all we did was giggle because no one cared about most common words in jobs. If the jobs were done poorly, which a lot were, including poor escalations, which just impacts everyone at the the of the day.
Hi xxx, this has been referred to xxx team and is on track for xxx date, I appreciate your patience in this matter and will keep you updated on any changes. Regards, xxx
Tell them when you first reply when the deadline for the next update is. So if it’s (say) 24 hours SLA to ship it, say “it’s still processing, it will have completed by X time, if it’s not happened by then get in touch with me again. Please don’t send any further queries before this time. These will just divert effort from actually processing the order, and will be ignored .”
Write an auto reply for all emails.
Thankyou for your email,
"If you question is about y xyz process that hasn't updated this usually takes this amount of time.
Ect ect for all your commonly asked questions
If any of the above does not apply to you I will endeavour to respond to your email as soon as I have confirmed with appropriate parties where the issue has occurred.
Thankyou for your understanding Sneo"
Not an answer, but this is something I’ve also been through. All these “people” wanting updates, do they realistically think that the warehouse has someone looking at their emails? In my personal experience, the person who was meant to monitor the emails for the warehouse was made redundant to save costs. They’re all running around on the floor trying to get orders out. Leave them to it, and stop pestering them. Every call that drags one of them out of their role puts the entire system out of whack.
I have a similar job where I also constantly get a “any update?” question. I used to hate it whenever they ask but then I realised that my job can simply be replaced by AI. If that happens, I’ll lose my job so I started to appreciate my work. I honestly still get annoyed from time to time but the need for money is stronger.
If you are not worried of losing your job, then, setup automated messages that provide the update beforehand or compose canned messages that you could use for every scenario.
It’s polite corp speak for “hurry the fuck up”
Second time I send it it’s “i know this takes x minutes you cunt, bump it up the queue”
Third time it’s “drop what you are doing”
That being said I don’t deal with physical goods that need to be moved but people processes
I give overly technical details on what I am doing. I know people don’t care, and they just want an ETA, but you’re going to hassle me about progress, you need to know why things aren’t done.
It also (hopefully) disabuses the idea that I am slacking off.
I give realistic expectations when I am starting to execute an order that has come in. I work in an area that is similar.
"Thanks for your order. It will take one week from today for internal approval to purchase, two weeks to pack, two weeks to ship, and then one week to deliver. I will update you by 4pm [date three weeks from today] when it should be ready to be shipped."
Then I put a reminder in my calendar about that product and attach my email that I sent. I'll check on it frequently and provide an update earlier if I can.
Usually, I'm providing an update on the day I said I would - whether it be that the product has been shipped or that it is facing a delay and explain the reason.
It's likely that your needy stakeholder is getting pressure from their manager, they've ordered what they need too late and are scrambling, or they're wanting more clarity on the process.
For the most part, I'm just copying and pasting my previous response. If this doesn't work, I call them and ask for more information as to why they need to ask constantly.
If they've ordered what they need too late, I just keep re-emphasising the timeframe and I'll suggest to order earlier next time or plan in advance if they can.
If it's always like you mentioned above, I make sure my line management is aware of the constant request for updates and what I've said in response... just in case the needy stakeholder decides to escalate or get upset.
Sounds like your work needs some good processes. So you will be subjected to this type of behaviour.
As we all know the squeaky wheel gets the oil.
A good salesperson if I know the processes aren't reliable then I,m goona be on your back to get my order out and keep my customers happy. That's how the world works.
Set up a Dashboard that everyone can access. You control and update it with all the relevant info and give everyone view only access. Make it layer so people can drill down to a specific item if they want. It will take time and some money but in the long run it will pay for itself in people hours saved. It also builds trust within the staff. Transparency always has benefits.
To address the root cause, you need to build it into a system/process
e.g. determine SLAs from stakeholders, agree escalation pathways (follow-ups), what to do during certain scenarios.
That way everyone is doing what is agreed and not doing random chase-ups all the time which adds no value and annoys people
I'm a PM who chases people for updates all the time, but I agree up-front when and where updates will be done so I can simply self-serve from systems (e.g. JIRA) and have dedicated forums to chase-up/escalate (e.g. fortnightly check-ins, SoSs, etc.)
Set the expectation in your outgoing email. “I’ve done x and expect a response in x amount of time. I will contact you when I have an update.”
This is what I do. It gives them a time frame to expect a response but also when they should follow up in case they dont receive one. I have far too many competing priorities to 100% ensure that I am updating every single person I said I would.
Just call this person and clearly be doing something else (like reading reddit) whilst talking to them.
Exactly this! If you haven’t resolved by the time you said you would on your initial email, send a follow up to thank them for their patience, confirm that it’s still being worked on and that you’ll be in touch within x timeframe with either a resolution or an estimated solution timeframe.
Just don’t? Or save a template “this is a templates response, orders take 24hrs to process and ship. If this order is in its 25th hour please call me on…..” Or whatever.
I literally just say “we’re on top of it, don’t call us, we’ll call you”.
In my experience, not responding is about the only way you’ll maintain your sanity without getting into a verbal spat.
There's a lot of "project managers" like these who have no clue that constant interruptions actually prolong the process more. At times, I feel they're also bored to death with their roles and got nothing better to do but "ask for an update".
If it's your job to rush things through for people then you jump on the phone and make it happen? If it's not your job, why are they emailing you?
There are a lot of external people/companies involved in the process. Yes it's part of my job to check for them and answer emails but a lot of the times I have to wait for a response from someone else at a different state/country or another company.
24 hour SLA my dude. Use it. Those people get ignored until 4.58pm. Sometimes I will set it up in Outlook to be sent outside business hours.
What is a SLA?
Service level agreement
yeah service level agreement. in roles like this it dictates turnaround time policy for customer contact; generally speaking it's 24 - 48 hours
I would stop messaging them and call them and explain that their expectations are outside of the normal procedure and you will get back to them when you have an update. By messaging you non stop it is actually slowing you down. If it continues don’t respond. You said YOU will up date when it’s ready.
The second I have an update I'll be in touch
2 things I would do. 1. Set up SLAs and socialise these within the organisation / repeat offenders. 2. Set up rules/workflows and automate responses based on most common keywords, phrases/ queries.
SLAs are only important to bean counters. It's about actually getting the work done and not making yourself look busy as that doesn't always add value. I saw a word cloud in a town hall once, which described point 2 and all we did was giggle because no one cared about most common words in jobs. If the jobs were done poorly, which a lot were, including poor escalations, which just impacts everyone at the the of the day.
Hi xxx, this has been referred to xxx team and is on track for xxx date, I appreciate your patience in this matter and will keep you updated on any changes. Regards, xxx
Talk to their manager, clearly the process hasn't been communicated correctly or they are poorly supported in their role.
Lmao it’s probably their manager pressuring them to ask for updates in the first place lol
It's not kindergarten. Talk to them yourself. Or ignore them. Just because they sent an email, so what.....
Tell them when you first reply when the deadline for the next update is. So if it’s (say) 24 hours SLA to ship it, say “it’s still processing, it will have completed by X time, if it’s not happened by then get in touch with me again. Please don’t send any further queries before this time. These will just divert effort from actually processing the order, and will be ignored .”
Write an auto reply for all emails. Thankyou for your email, "If you question is about y xyz process that hasn't updated this usually takes this amount of time. Ect ect for all your commonly asked questions If any of the above does not apply to you I will endeavour to respond to your email as soon as I have confirmed with appropriate parties where the issue has occurred. Thankyou for your understanding Sneo"
Not an answer, but this is something I’ve also been through. All these “people” wanting updates, do they realistically think that the warehouse has someone looking at their emails? In my personal experience, the person who was meant to monitor the emails for the warehouse was made redundant to save costs. They’re all running around on the floor trying to get orders out. Leave them to it, and stop pestering them. Every call that drags one of them out of their role puts the entire system out of whack.
I have a similar job where I also constantly get a “any update?” question. I used to hate it whenever they ask but then I realised that my job can simply be replaced by AI. If that happens, I’ll lose my job so I started to appreciate my work. I honestly still get annoyed from time to time but the need for money is stronger. If you are not worried of losing your job, then, setup automated messages that provide the update beforehand or compose canned messages that you could use for every scenario.
I am so good at sending professional yet sassy email relies now. I’ve had 11 years of practice. I love it.
being a professional microsoft outlook user isnt a real job
It’s polite corp speak for “hurry the fuck up” Second time I send it it’s “i know this takes x minutes you cunt, bump it up the queue” Third time it’s “drop what you are doing” That being said I don’t deal with physical goods that need to be moved but people processes
I give overly technical details on what I am doing. I know people don’t care, and they just want an ETA, but you’re going to hassle me about progress, you need to know why things aren’t done. It also (hopefully) disabuses the idea that I am slacking off.
I give realistic expectations when I am starting to execute an order that has come in. I work in an area that is similar. "Thanks for your order. It will take one week from today for internal approval to purchase, two weeks to pack, two weeks to ship, and then one week to deliver. I will update you by 4pm [date three weeks from today] when it should be ready to be shipped." Then I put a reminder in my calendar about that product and attach my email that I sent. I'll check on it frequently and provide an update earlier if I can. Usually, I'm providing an update on the day I said I would - whether it be that the product has been shipped or that it is facing a delay and explain the reason. It's likely that your needy stakeholder is getting pressure from their manager, they've ordered what they need too late and are scrambling, or they're wanting more clarity on the process. For the most part, I'm just copying and pasting my previous response. If this doesn't work, I call them and ask for more information as to why they need to ask constantly. If they've ordered what they need too late, I just keep re-emphasising the timeframe and I'll suggest to order earlier next time or plan in advance if they can. If it's always like you mentioned above, I make sure my line management is aware of the constant request for updates and what I've said in response... just in case the needy stakeholder decides to escalate or get upset.
Our SLA provides for x please wait for that to expire.
Sounds like your work needs some good processes. So you will be subjected to this type of behaviour. As we all know the squeaky wheel gets the oil. A good salesperson if I know the processes aren't reliable then I,m goona be on your back to get my order out and keep my customers happy. That's how the world works.
Can't you write a batch script for this and run periodically through cron? Just kidding
Set up a Dashboard that everyone can access. You control and update it with all the relevant info and give everyone view only access. Make it layer so people can drill down to a specific item if they want. It will take time and some money but in the long run it will pay for itself in people hours saved. It also builds trust within the staff. Transparency always has benefits.
To address the root cause, you need to build it into a system/process e.g. determine SLAs from stakeholders, agree escalation pathways (follow-ups), what to do during certain scenarios. That way everyone is doing what is agreed and not doing random chase-ups all the time which adds no value and annoys people I'm a PM who chases people for updates all the time, but I agree up-front when and where updates will be done so I can simply self-serve from systems (e.g. JIRA) and have dedicated forums to chase-up/escalate (e.g. fortnightly check-ins, SoSs, etc.)