Is your team worried about your part of the work?
Makes sure you and your work don't fall through the cracks.
Don’t assume your manager knows you finished that spreadsheet or sent that email just because you did it. When you’re given a task, you’re responsible for letting people know exactly when it’s finished. A quick message like, “Just wanted to let you know the report is done and in the shared folder,” saves others from having to check in on you.
“Closing the loop” builds your reputation as a professional who can be trusted with high-stakes work. As you move up, you’ll handle more complex projects where communication is key to the success of your company and to next steps in your career journey.
“Closing the loop” is a small step that builds an immediate reputation for being reliable. It reduces the risk of:
Needing your manager to micromanage you.
Behaving in a passive aggressive way when you’re frustrated by keeping others in the dark or wondering about your project status.
Closing the loop also applies to quick chats and meetings. If a decision is made during a conversation, follow up with a brief written summary to the people involved. This is to ensure everyone is on the same page and give the team a record to look back on later. When you become the person who makes sure nothing falls through the cracks, you become a teammate that everyone wants on their projects because they know they won’t have to worry about your part of the work.
Put these approaches into practice.
Let’s look at practical ways to proactively communicate to ensure status, decisions, and outcomes are documented and shared.
