What Should Your Follow-Up Secretary Actually Remember?
More connections only matter if they help the secretary remember the right things.
This week I have talked a lot about connections.
Where loose ends come from. What connected actually means. Why DFU should not become another inbox. Why built is not the same as proven. And what should happen when the software is unsure.
It is worth finishing with the simpler question underneath all of that.
What should a follow-up secretary actually remember for you?
Who are you waiting on?
This is the classic follow-up.
The quote has gone out. The supplier promised a price. The subcontractor owes a document. The customer said they would confirm.
You have done your bit for now.
DFU should remember that somebody else has the next action — and when it becomes reasonable to put the matter back in front of you.
Who is waiting on you?
This pile is often more dangerous.
A customer asked a question. A revised price needs sending. Somebody left a message. A supplier is waiting on your confirmation.
The other person may not chase straight away.
From their side, your silence is still your responsibility.
The secretary should make that visible.
What is the loose end actually about?
A reminder that says “Call Steve” is better than nothing.
A useful secretary should remember enough context that you know why you are calling Steve.
That does not mean copying an entire connected system into DFU.
It means preserving the source and the important follow-up context so the loose end makes sense when it comes back.
When should it come back?
Not every follow-up belongs on today’s list.
Some need attention this afternoon. Some next Tuesday. Some after the customer returns. Some should stay snoozed until a real dependency changes.
DFU already has the ideas of dates, snoozing, urgency, pausing and secretary summaries because timing is a core part of remembering properly.
What changed?
As more connected sources are developed, change becomes important too.
Did the customer reply? Did responsibility move back to you? Did a quote change? Did a previously waiting item become actionable?
The secretary should help preserve that continuity instead of forcing every new signal to become an unrelated task.
Connections should serve the promise, not replace it
This is the standard I want to keep applying as DFU grows.
A new connector is useful if it makes the secretary better at remembering the right loose ends.
It is not automatically useful because another logo can be added to a screen.
There are more connectors in development and plenty of testing still to do, so DFU remains under development with no announced release date.
But the product promise itself has become clearer, not more complicated.
Who are you waiting on?
Who is waiting on you?
What is the loose end?
When should it come back?
If Dazza can remember those things reliably across the places your business already works, then the connections are doing their job.
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