No response: clear request, no answer
Silence usually means your request lost the competition for attention—not necessarily disagreement.
When this fits
Use this pattern when a normally reachable stakeholder leaves a clear project request unanswered while continuing to engage elsewhere. It is especially relevant when the request requires effort, ownership or an uncomfortable position—not when the person is simply away, ill or genuinely overloaded for a short period.
Typical project example
You send a control owner three questions and a 20-page attachment. Five days later there is no answer, although they have replied to unrelated messages in the same period.
Check the pattern
Open the detail only when you need it
One sign is not proof. Look for a repeated pattern and check other explanations.
1 · Choose the format
The wording changes to fit where you will use it.
What do you need from this conversation?
Choose one main outcome. Your closing question will adapt to it.
Aim for
Narrow the discussion to the choice that must be made. Make the options, trade-offs and cost of delay visible.
The wording below updates immediately
Your conversation plan
Use the wording in this order
1 Say this now
“I only need one point to keep this moving: does Option B meet your control requirement? A yes or no by 15:00 Wednesday is enough.”
2 Close with this
“Given these trade-offs, which option are we choosing today? If neither, what information is still missing, and who will provide it by when?”
Check before you act
Ask whether they are unable, unwilling, or simply unclear. Each needs a different response.
How did they respond?
Choose the closest reaction. One response does not prove what the person intends.
Choose the closest reaction
You will get a follow-up phrase, why it may help, and what evidence to check.
Is a direct conversation still enough?
Escalate immediately for safety, legal or regulatory breaches, fraud, harassment, material data/security risk or an irreversible deadline. Do not wait to collect three checks.
Check what is already true
Current assessment · 0/4 checks
Keep working directly
The informal route is not exhausted. Clarify the ask and test the constraint before involving another level.
Evidence to bring
Bring facts that help someone decide. Strip out blame and guesses about motive.
- 1The exact outcome requested: owner, observable result and required date.
- 2A short chronology of relevant conversations, messages, decisions and follow-ups.
- 3Contact attempts by date and channel, the response deadline, and what remained unanswered.
- 4The options, trade-offs or recovery routes you already offered and the response to each.
- 5The specific decision or support now required, from whom, by when and your recommendation.
Avoid these mistakes
- — Sending the same reminder again
- — Copying senior people too early
6 · Outcome after trying this
The outcome and note are saved on this device.