Following up is an art form. Deliberate follow-up reinforces trust, accountability, and respect for people’s time when engaging with Boar, members, strategic partners, or head office staff. When done well, it keeps priorities moving forward without creating friction and shows your interest in the situation, the process, and the results, yet when done poorly, it can unintentionally damage relationships and credibility within the association.
Read the room (or the email)
When it comes to any kind of communication, reading the room is essential.
Effective follow-up begins with listening. When someone shares a timeline, constraint, or decision-making process, that information matters. If someone says that they won’t have a decision for two weeks, follow up then, not in a couple of days or after one week.
Following up too early can make it seem like you didn’t listen or that you’re putting pressure on them. Following up at the agreed time shows that you value their input and boundaries. But most importantly, that you are listening to your fellow association volunteer leaders or members.
People respond far more positively when they feel understood and heard than when they feel pressured. Frankly, when people feel pressured, they can get annoyed, which can be the death of a relationship. Don’t be annoying, just read the room.
Follow-Up with intention
Every follow-up should have a purpose. Following up, “just because” isn’t a good enough reason. A follow-up should include at least one of the following :
- • Clarifying the next steps
- • Acknowledging progress towards the end goal
- • Keep an agreed-upon item moving forwar
When there is a clear intent behind the follow-up, it feels constructive rather than intrusive. These are the communications that people want to receive and respond to.
Do what you say you’re going to do
This is also known as follows through.
Trust is built through consistency. Trust can be easily broken and hard to rebuild, so start off by building trust with the small things, like following through when you say you will. If you indicate to someone that you will circle back, provide information, or check in at a certain point, do it. Following through is critical as it demonstrates accountability and reinforces that commitments, even small ones, matter. This reliability sets the tone for the relationship. Clear, concise, and timely communication is an important pillar of good relations within associations.
Follow the(ir) lead(er)
Pay attention to how people communicate with you. Respecting their preference for being formal or informal helps to make communication smoother between all parties involved.
When you’re asked to call someone by a certain name, it’s important that you do.
For example, if in an initial email exchange, you begin with “Ms. Roberts”, but when she replied to your email, she signs off as “Sam”, she has indicated her preference in her sign-off, and those details matter. The correct thing to do in this case would be to start the next email with “Sam”.
This also applies to tone and formality. If they use exclamation points, emojis, slang, etc., then so can you (within reason, of course). No one wants an email with an exclamation point after every sentence, or that looks like a chat with a teenager. To learn more about effective communication, check out this blog post. Effective Communication in Associations: Building Strong Connections Among Members and Staff – Strauss event & association management
In the end, perfecting the follow-up is not about frequency; it is about intention. If you approach this with care and consistency, it becomes a powerful tool in mastering the art of the follow-up.