Ask Zing Collaborative: What to Do When People Don’t Respond?

What do we do when other people’s sense of urgency doesn’t match our own?

Question: I'm highly responsive, disciplined about time management, and committed to following through on promised communications and deadlines. But I often find myself waiting for replies that come late—or never arrive. How can I navigate this more effectively, especially when others don't seem to operate with the same sense of urgency?

This question recently landed in my inbox from a colleague, and I suspect it's one that many of us can relate to.

We all have different approaches to time, communication, urgency, and follow-through. Some of us respond to emails almost immediately. Others prefer to batch their communications, need more time to process, or simply operate at a different pace.

Of course, there's a difference between having different communication preferences and failing to honor a commitment.

When we're dependent on someone else's response to move something forward, either situation can create frustration.

So, what can we do?

Here are a few practical strategies, along with some broader considerations.

Tactical Strategies

• Make the request explicit in the subject line. For emails requiring a response, consider including [Response Requested] or [Action Required] so the recipient can immediately distinguish the message from an informational update.

• Include a timeframe in the subject line. For example: [Response Requested by 10/25/26]. This makes the timing visible before someone even opens the email. For especially important deadlines, confirm the timing together rather than assuming the requested date works.

• Provide a path forward if there's no reply. For example: Please share any concerns by October 31. If you're comfortable with the proposed copy, no response is needed, and we'll proceed as outlined. This approach works especially well when everyone has already agreed to the decision-making process and silence can reasonably indicate consent.

• Consider structures or systems that reduce ambiguity leading up to the deadline. Rather than waiting until the final day, perhaps establish a midpoint check-in, a reminder, or another opportunity to surface questions and obstacles before the deadline arrives.

Additional Considerations

• Understand how different people respond to expectations. Gretchen Rubin's Four Tendencies framework offers one lens for understanding how people respond to inner and outer expectations. Learning more about the people we work with can help us adapt our approach rather than assuming everyone responds to deadlines and requests in the same way.

• Consider differences in pace and urgency. Some assessments, including the Culture Index and other workplace behavioral frameworks, explore differences in work pace, urgency, and related tendencies. If you naturally operate with a particularly high sense of urgency, what feels like a reasonable response time to you may feel different to someone else. Neither preference automatically determines someone's reliability or effectiveness.

• Distinguish between firm deadlines and flexible preferences. Where do you truly need a response by a particular date, and where might the timing be more flexible? Could you be especially clear and intentional about deadlines for the most important items, while allowing a little more fluidity elsewhere?

One Final Thought

We can't control how quickly everyone responds, but we can create greater clarity around what we're asking, when we need it, and what happens next. We can embrace the strategies in the Be Clear section of Expansive Impact, to align on expectations up front and set ourselves up for success from the beginning.

And perhaps we can also become more curious about the differences in how people work, rather than assuming our own approach is the universal standard.

The goal isn't necessarily to make everyone communicate exactly as we do.

It's to create shared expectations that help us work together more effectively, with less frustration and more ease.

Have a question about leadership, communication, workplace culture, or navigating the challenges of working with other humans? Send it my way. I may explore it in a future Ask Zing Collaborative post.