# Staying in Touch

> See who you are falling behind with and reach out.

Source: https://groupthink.com/docs/staying_in_touch/
Last updated: 2026-09-16

Groupthink keeps track of how long it has been since you talked to someone, tells you who you are falling behind with, and helps you do something about it. Set how often you want to be in contact with a person, and everything else on this page keys off that number.

These steps cover the web app at [app.groupthink.com](https://app.groupthink.com) and the Groupthink desktop app, which show the same screens.

## Set how often you want to keep in touch

Groupthink calls this a cadence. It is a per-person setting, and it is what makes the check-in and Going Cold surfaces work.

1. Click **Relationships** in the left sidebar.
2. Click a person's row. On a wide window the person opens in a panel that slides in from the right. On a narrower window it opens as its own page.
3. In the header, under the row that starts with **Last met**, find the control labelled **Cadence**. That dropdown is the cadence picker.
4. Pick one of **None**, **Weekly**, **Biweekly**, **Monthly**, **Quarterly**, **Every 6 months**, or **Yearly**.

It saves as soon as you pick. If the save fails you get a **Couldn't save cadence** message next to the dropdown.

### Take the suggested cadence

If a person has no cadence set and you have enough meeting history with them, a highlighted box appears at the top of their page: "Based on your meeting history, checking in monthly looks about right for Alex."

- Click **Set this cadence** to accept it.
- Click the X to dismiss it. It stays hidden for the rest of your browser session.

### Change several cadences at once

The Relationships table has a **Frequency** column that holds the same setting.

1. Click **Relationships** in the left sidebar.
2. Double-click the **Frequency** cell on the row you want to change.
3. Pick a value from the dropdown. It saves on selection and you get a "Relationship updated successfully" toast.

A dash in the Frequency column means no cadence is set for that person.

### What the Status chip means

The **Status** column, and the matching chip on the person's page, reads:

| Chip               | Meaning                                 |
| ------------------ | --------------------------------------- |
| **On track**       | You are inside the cadence you set.     |
| **Falling behind** | You are past the cadence but not badly. |
| **Overdue**        | You are well past it.                   |

For people with no cadence set, Groupthink falls back to plain recency: on track up to 30 days since the last interaction, falling behind up to 60, overdue after that.

## See who you are falling behind with

There are two places to look, and they answer slightly different questions.

### Today

1. Click **Today** in the left sidebar.
2. Scroll to the **Relationship check-ins** section.

You get a table of people, split into two groups when both apply:

- **Overdue**, the people you are past due with.
- **Coming due this week**, with the note "Not late yet, a light touch now keeps them on cadence."

Each row shows the person, **Last met** as a relative date, **Days** since the last interaction, and an **Urgency** chip reading either **Overdue** or **Coming due**. Click a person's name to open their page.

**Only people with a cadence set appear here.** If you have not set any cadences, this section shows "Nobody's drifting, everyone is within the cadence you set." That message means the same thing whether you are genuinely caught up or have not set a cadence on anyone yet.

### The Going Cold filter

1. Click **Relationships** in the left sidebar.
2. Click **Going Cold** in the toolbar above the table. The number on the button is how many people match.
3. The table narrows to people whose status is Falling behind or Overdue.
4. Click **Going Cold** again to go back to the full list.

This filter is broader than the Today section: it includes people with no cadence set, using the recency fallback described above.

## Ask about someone

Before you reach out, you can ask a plain-language question about a person and get an answer drawn from what Groupthink has on file: your notes, meeting history, open threads, and observations.

1. Open the person from **Relationships**.
2. Scroll down the main column to the **Ask** heading.
3. Type a question in the box, for example "what did we agree on last time" or "what has changed since we last spoke".
4. Click **Ask**, or press Cmd+Enter (Ctrl+Enter on Windows).

The answer appears below the box. Numbered markers in the answer are clickable:

- A meeting reference opens that meeting.
- A note or open-thread reference scrolls you to the matching row further down the same page.

The chips under the answer are the same references in list form. This is a single question at a time. There is no history, and the answer clears when you ask again or leave the page.

## Draft a note before you reach out

1. Open the person from **Relationships**.
2. In the header, click **Draft outreach**.
3. Optionally fill in **Tone hint (optional)**, for example "Keep it brief and warm" or "Reference the Q3 project".
4. Click **Generate draft**.
5. Edit the **Subject** and **Draft email** fields as much as you want.
6. Click **Open in mail client**. That opens a new draft in your own email app with the subject and body filled in.

Nothing is sent for you. The recipient field is deliberately left empty so you pick the address yourself. If the draft comes back unusable you get a warning and can click **Regenerate**.

You can also start a draft from a specific follow-up. Under **Open threads** further down the person's page, use a thread's **Draft outreach** action and the draft is built around that thread instead of the relationship in general.

### Shape how the draft sounds

The wording of a generated draft follows two things you control:

- The **Tone hint (optional)** field in the draft panel, which applies to that one draft.
- The **Communication style** field, which applies every time.

To set Communication style:

1. Open the person from **Relationships**.
2. Find the **Stable fields** heading. On a wide window it is in the narrow column down the right side of the page. On a narrower window it sits at the top of the page, above the timeline.
3. Click the **Communication style** value (it reads "e.g. prefers async, brief, direct" when empty).
4. Type something like "prefers async, brief, direct" and click **Save**.

Below Stable fields is a **Voice profile** section with **Formality**, **Directness**, **Warmth**, **Length**, **Emoji OK**, **Mirror their style**, **Do not say**, and **Register notes**. These settings shape how Groupthink phrases answers about this person in the **Ask** box. Click any field, pick or type a value, and click **Save**.

## Schedule the next touchpoint

This writes a real event to the calendar you have connected to Groupthink.

1. Open the person from **Relationships**.
2. In the header, click **Schedule next touchpoint**. A form opens below the buttons.
3. **Title** is prefilled as "Catch up with [Name]". Change it if you like.
4. Set **Starts** and **Ends**. The default is a 30 minute block at 10am on the next weekday.
5. **Attendees** starts with the person you opened. Add more with the **Add a person...** box. If someone has no email on file their chip reads "(no invite)", and you can type an address in the box beneath to invite them instead.
6. Optionally fill in **Note (optional)**.
7. Click **Schedule**.

A few things worth knowing:

- The form says it plainly: "This writes to your own calendar. Attendees with an email get a calendar invite from your provider when you save, nobody is messaged automatically."
- If you have no calendar connected, a warning reads "No calendar connected. Connect Google or Outlook in Settings to schedule a touchpoint" and the **Schedule** button stays disabled. See [Google Calendar](/docs/google_calendar) or [Outlook Calendar](/docs/outlook_calendar).
- Once scheduled, the person's header shows a **Planned** entry with the title and date. If a regular calendar meeting with them lands sooner, the header shows that one as **Upcoming** instead. You only ever see the nearer of the two.

You can also schedule from a specific follow-up: under **Open threads**, use a thread's **Schedule touchpoint** action and the event title and note are prefilled from that thread.

## Frequently Asked Questions

### Do I have to set a cadence for any of this to work?

The **Going Cold** filter and the **Status** column work without one, using days since your last interaction. The **Relationship check-ins** section on **Today** does not: it only lists people who have a cadence set.

### Does Groupthink email me when someone goes cold?

No. Check-ins are in-app, on the **Today** page. The [Daily Brief](/docs/daily_brief) email covers tomorrow's meetings and today's recaps, not cadence check-ins.

### Does Groupthink ever send a message for me?

No. Drafted emails open in your own mail app for you to send. Scheduled touchpoints are written to your own calendar, and any invite comes from your calendar provider when you save the event.

### Where did the cadence dropdown go on my person page?

Look under the row that starts with **Last met**, for the control labelled **Cadence**.

If you remember it as an unlabelled dropdown tucked at the end of the Last met row, that was the older layout. It now carries a visible label.

### Can I set a cadence like "every 10 days"?

Not from the dropdown. The choices are Weekly, Biweekly, Monthly, Quarterly, Every 6 months, and Yearly.

## Getting Help

Questions about staying in touch? Email [support@groupthink.com](mailto:support@groupthink.com)