When key decision-makers are MIA for content approval, how do you ensure your project stays on track?

If only planning ahead always worked! Sometimes, you plan as best you can and adapt on the fly as you go. If plans go awry, try breaking down tasks for others into smaller pieces that they can respond to more easily. That should keep your progress moving forward at least a little at a time without sabotaging someone else's schedule. Sometimes, calling a short meeting with someone is worth more than dozens of messages back and forth. Use their time and yours wisely.

To keep the project on schedule, establish specific content approval dates and discuss them in advance. If key decision-makers are absent, assign a backup approver or proceed with provisional approval based on pre-established parameters to ensure that the project moves forward without excessive delay.

Over the years, I have run into a few people who are notorious for never responding. The trick to dealing with people like this is in finding out who else knows some of the same information and using them as a resource instead. That or involve the original person's manager to get them to reply. I usually only do this as a last resort for people who *must* reply themselves yet who consistently don't answer emails and text messages.

When sending out content for review, I usually send out smaller parts individually. Then when the full document is ready to be reviewed, most of it has already been reviewed by the SMEs. I also mark up new or updated content in what I send out so that people don't have to spend time reviewing what was approved previously.

Everyone is busy. Getting someone to prioritize my busy tasks over someone else's can be as simple as asking nicely. If you come down hard on someone, they're a lot less likely to want to do anything to please you. Also, hand out praise liberally at the end of harder tasks so that people know that you value their time. Just make it real and don't overdo it. Few people like phony praise.

Our team uses Jira to track our day-to-day tasks. I break down most of my major deliverables into stories and then put the things to do as sub-tasks under the stories. Each week, I put several sub-tasks as "in progress" and then work on those first. I add more as the others reach a standstill or are finished.