The present invention provides a method and system to alert the recipient of an electronic message of some action that is required from the recipient. The invention also provides a method to alert the sender of the electronic message of the completion of the action required in the original electronic mail message. In the method of the present invention, the originator or recipient of an electronic mail message can choose to designate the message as one that requires an action by the message recipient. The recipient will notice the `Action Required` icon and will be alerted to the fact that an action is required with this message. At the completion of the action, the sender of the original message will receive a notification that the requested action has been taken by the recipient.