Imagine you have 2 reports (👋🏼 to the managers reading this, you don't have to imagine 😜).
Report #1 always remembers and handles tasks you give them
Report #2 often remembers them, but not always
With Report #1, you’re going to take those tasks completely off your mental to-do list, with Report #2, you’re still worrying about them.
NASA "Fire & Forget"
Fire & Forget is mostly used in the context of missile technology, but more broadly it means the confidence to send something out with the expectation that it will complete its task without needing further guidance or control.
To be a “fire & forget” individual means that you have a reputation in handling tasks with such consistency and predictability that your manager (or other stakeholders) can as good as forget about them.
A Safe Pair Of Hands
You want to build a reputation as a "safe pair of hands". It comes down to trust.
Trust has 4 variables —
- Credibility
- Reliability
- Intimacy
- Underscored by Self-Orientation
(Self-Orientation is how much you’re motivated by helping yourself vs others)
Being reliable means your manager is going to trust you (and will probably be less micro-managey too 🥳)
Hell No
This doesn’t mean you do every single thing your manager asks. Hell no. That would actually make you bad at your job 🙃
It does mean —
- You have a system for keeping on top of your tasks
- You’re proactive with them in prioritising/reprioritising/deprioritising
- They don't have to chase you on stuff
How To Be Proactive
As a manager, when a report does these 👇🏼 consistently, it’s just... chef's kiss.
1. Proactively update
2. Send a regular Status Update email ahead of your 1:1
👉🏼 Use this Template
Do You Timeblock?
Bro, do you even timeblock 😆
Simplest hack I’ve ever found for staying on top of tasks:
- Blocking time in your cal to work on tasks as soon as the request comes in.
- Snoozing the email about it (if there is one) until the assigned time so it’s out of your main inbox.
- Grouping similar task blocks to reduce context switching load on your 🧠
Life is indeed a highway,
Soph ✌🏼