When we happen to run into someone who “owes” us something (information, services, money, etc.), the natural inclination is to jump straight to that point.
But this isn’t necessarily the most effective route in the long-run.
I’ve spent enough time around people who always want things immediately to know that it isn’t an effective approach. When I get hammered with constant questions and requests for status updates, I find myself less and less interested in helping out the other person.
This type of approach can work in the short-run, and when used sporadically it can even work decently in the long-run. But I’ve found that there’s a limit to the amount of prodding that can be done effectively.
If the matter is of even moderate importance to the person you’re talking with, just seeing you should be enough to jog your memory. At the most, a subtle ask towards the end of the conversation should be plenty.
There’s rarely a need to jump right to the point, especially if you happen to run into someone in a casual setting.
Don’t make the other person dread seeing you.
-Brandon
I deal with this frequently in my work, and I tend to agree with everything you’ve said. I’ll throw in some person experience below.
I’ve found an approach that tends to work so frequently, that I’ve almost stopped using the typical follow-up approach altogether. My advice would be that when initiating “follow-up” contact with a person, try not to specifically even mention the request at first. I’ve learned that if you can truly express my empathy for how busy someone is, they will often bring up the “elephant in the room”, saying something to the tune of, “[Yeah, I’m busy] but I will get you that report report/document/etc.” If they admit that they owe you something, then you can respond with one of a couple powerful follow-up strategies: 1) ask if they’d like you to reassign it to someone else (if applicable), 2) or ask if they think they won’t be able to deliver. Your goal here is to get them to say, “No,” thus, owning the request (don’t worry about “getting to yes”). In denying you with a “No” and owning the request, they feel as though they are in control of the process, and it also makes them believe getting it to you is ultimately their idea rather than yours (since they are telling you not to reassign it). I can’t say how effective these strategies will be for others, as there are always myriad factors in play with interpersonal communication, but they’ve done wonders for me.