Completing a follow-up
Two things close a row as kept. A person marks it complete — the only route for a task row, because nothing else ever acts on one. Or the drain's action succeeds and the outcome is written back, so the commitment stops being owed. attempted is the third state and is not completion: something was tried and the promise is still outstanding.
Completed, attempted, cancelled#
| State | What it means | What it says about the promise |
|---|---|---|
| Completed | The commitment was kept | Settled. It leaves the queue and stays on the person's history |
| Attempted | Something was tried and did not settle it | Still owed. The attempt is evidence, not closure |
| Cancelled | The commitment will not be kept | Deliberately abandoned, with the reason still readable |
The distinction between the first two is the one that decays first in practice. A call that was placed and not answered is an attempt; a message that went out is the thing that was promised, so it completes. Recording an unanswered call as complete makes the queue clean and the customer's experience invisible, which is the wrong trade.
Completing by hand#
Do the thing, then mark it complete.
Result The row leaves the open queue and the person's count of open commitments drops by one — which is the number people actually read when deciding whether to contact somebody again.
If what you did produced something — a call, a document, a message — say so in the completion rather than only in your own notes.
Result The next person to open the relationship sees the outcome and not just the absence of an open row.
If the commitment produced a new one, create the new row before completing the old.
Result There is never a moment where nothing is owed and something is.
A task row has no other route. Nothing drains it, so its only ending is a person completing it or cancelling it — which is why the "For a person to do" group is the part of the queue that goes stale quietly if nobody works it.
Completion by the drain#
When a drained action succeeds, the outcome is written back against the row: on the phone channel that is call placed <id>, and the call it names carries its own transcript, summary and cost. The commitment was "ring them back", the ringing happened, and the row stops being owed.
What the drain does not do is judge how the call went. A placed call that reached voicemail satisfies the commitment to ring; whether it satisfies the customer is a separate question, and if the answer is no, the honest move is a new follow-up rather than reopening the old one.
What completion records#
- Who closed it and when. A completion is a decision like any other, and it is attributed.
- How it was closed. By a person, or by the drain's own successful action — the two are distinguishable afterwards, which matters when reviewing a queue somebody else worked.
- Everything that happened first. Attempts, refusals and approvals stay on the row after completion; closing does not tidy the history.
- The person's open count.
summaryon the relationship drops, which is the number that tells you how much you currently owe somebody.
Questions#
Can a completed follow-up be reopened?
Treat it as a new commitment instead. Reopening would put a row back into the queue whose history describes a promise that was already settled once, which reads badly to whoever inherits it. A fresh row with an honest reason is clearer.
Does completing a follow-up tell the customer anything?
No. Completion is an internal state change. The customer experienced whatever action was taken — the call, the message — and nothing is sent when the row closes.
The call was placed but nobody answered. Complete or not?
The row records that the call was placed, which satisfies a commitment to ring. If what you promised was a conversation rather than an attempt, schedule the next one — that is a second commitment, honestly recorded.