How do you track dependencies that don't have clear dates?
Hi, im a PM (not a senior) running an early product build rn, my company is just a decent sized one. Since the product is new, it’s messy and stuff breaking, but bugs aren't what wear me down, it's something else Those overdue stuff is easy. It's red,…
Hi, im a PM (not a senior) running an early product build rn, my company is just a decent sized one. Since the product is new, it’s messy and stuff breaking, but bugs aren't what wear me down, it's something else Those overdue stuff is easy. It's red, visible, flagged and people are already fixing it. What actually kills me is the stuff that isn't late because it never had a date to begin with (ridiculously ik) Like the legal holding a contract, a client saying ‘early next week’ three weeks ago, or a team picking up a task ‘sometime next sprint’ None of it is overdue, so it surfaces nowhere Ive tried putting fake deadlines in the tracker or setting calendar reminders, but that just creates unnecessary noise. If i ping on Teams, i get ‘yep, on our list’ Quick call, even face to face knocking on the door, nothing helps And that's when it happens. Last month, a dependency got unblocked but nobody pinged me. To them, it wasn't urgent, so it just sat there for two weeks until i manually checked. I lost two weeks i could've been moving on it, and looked sloppy in a review explaining a delay that only happened because i was out of the loop So im trying to build an actual process for this instead of just relying on my memory and chasing people and wonder for those managing a lot of cross time dependencies, how do you keep tabs on these ones? Is there a system, habit, route, or tools that holds up?
Collected discussion
I'd stop giving these fake deadlines and track a named owner plus a next check-in date instead. Add the exact unblock signal too, so they know when to ping you without you chasing.
oH this is helpful, especially the exact unblock signal. Ive def just been vaguely waiting and chasing instead of defining the exact trigger event upfront so they actually know when to loop me in The named owner plus check in date makes sense though im still chewing on it. A check in date feels like it just makes me more consistent at nagging, rather than needing to nag less...Still end up poking them and get the same answer. Anw honestly maybe that's just another reality lol. Really appreciate the insights!!
Lol painfully accurate on the slack messages. We have weekly syncs too but those soft kinda non technical blockers always seems to get swallowed by bigger dev updates (which is totally normal though, i get it) So im curious how do you guys keep those smaller administrative dependencies visible in the weekly review? Or is kinda a culture thing?
The nagging feeling goes away when the chase carries a state, not just a date. Waiting, chased once, chased twice. Anything still sitting at chased twice by the weekly goes on the status agenda as a risk with a name against it, so the second ask isn't you poking someone privately anymore, it's something the room has to resolve. You still do the same amount of asking, but it stops being only your problem, and people tend to answer the first one quicker once they've seen where the second one ends up.
Im gonna try the framing 'i'll have the answer by Thursday', seems to be way more realistic than fake deadlines. Also really appreciate the callout on the other half, i was trying it to solve it by being more disciplined but you're right, im just not anywhere near where the status changes actually happen. I might need to communicate clearly with my team too. Getting added as a watcher on their tickets seems so obvious now lol
Unread slack messages? /s We do this through quarterly planning and line up the dependencies and timing. Weekly roadmap checking syncs the delta and teams talk through blockers and stuck situations.
What helped me was asking people they'd know, since even someone who won't commit to delivery will usually agree to "I'll have an answer by Thursday". That date goes in the tracker as a check-in, not a due date, so it fires without pretending it's a deadline anyone owes me. The other half of your problem is different though. Nobody told you the dependency cleared because you weren't anywhere the status change was visible, and no habit of yours fixes that. I'd get myself added as a watcher on their ticket or into whatever channel they close things in, so the update reaches me even when it isn't urgent to them.
It’s a combination of system and habits. Tools come in a bit later when the foundations are set. For example, it’s true that those dependencies have no dates. We all know how frustrating that can be. You can’t just solve it by slapping deadlines on them. The bigger issue is probably because they have no owner and no check in cadence. Legal holding a contract and a client saying they’d get back to you next week are both dependencies that involve someone outside your team. You can’t really force a date onto them, but you can own the check-in rhythm. Have clear ownership of who will follow up to verify whether an item has been unblocked or still pending. If that’s you, start by separating “tracking the dependency“ from “chasing the dependency.“ For the former, every undated dependency gets logged with the last status, who gave it, and the date you last confirmed it. That’s your reference point when you need to check in. For chasing, set a weekly recurring reminder to review the list and touch base on anything that hasn’t moved in more than a week. Doesn’t need to be a Jira ticket, not a calendar event, just a personal habit with a simple record.
After 8 years of this I have never seen an estimate more than 6 months out that was ever accurate anyway.
Use a Google sheet / Google doc, and have calls from time to time with the major players on the project
RAID doc
For these small but annoying stuff, i stopped using fake deadlines entirely. Calendars worked a few times but not guarantee always so i built a simple setup to handle. I just log the dependency and the specific approval or date im waiting on, like legal reviews on doc x, product team finalizes the design on. Use the autonomous intern (basically the local ai agent) as a tool to just watch or document that thread quietly in the background. It pings me and writes out a quick check in message if there is new or no new updates. I just skim it, tweak it if needed, and hit send myself. Takes 5 sec and i don't have to spend energy checking things every morning