Collaboration
Stop Doing Things That Take up Your Time
Benefits and a simple example of asking others for help that save you time to get things done.
It’s Wednesday. A couple of weeks away from a project deadline. An upcoming event and final orders and preparations had to be made to be ready on time.
As with every small or large project, there are always some last-minute items and ideas coming up. I like that phase of a project launch because a lot of times they are great and key success ideas that should not be dismissed.
The only issue is, there is not much time and they are another item on your to-do list. This means you have to make fast decisions:
- Do OR Don’t
- Must have OR nice to have
Essentially, ask the questions that can qualify and assess the task. And if all the lights are green: Go for it. Fast.
What if it’s something you have never done before or don’t have the skill or tools to complete it?
A lot of times we tend to search and try to figure it out ourselves — especially if it is something we really are convinced is a good idea. We keep fiddling and googling until we can solve it or until we give up.
What if, instead of using your valuable time and googling the “how-to videos”, your immediate first question and action would be:
“Is there someone who can help and potentially do this task better and faster than me?”
The biggest reason many people seem to have for staying stuck rather than reaching out is fear of rejection.
However, there are many benefits when asking for help. I found some interesting articles on Medium and Thrive Global below and I have compiled the following 3 main benefits when asking someone for support:
- You gain the ability to move forward.
Rather than being “stuck,” you know how to proceed. Can you remember a time you hesitated about reaching out? Chances are you felt a certain degree of stress associated with this. You weren’t being as productive as you wanted to be. That is, until you asked for help and felt the relief of finding out what you needed to know to move forward.
2. You gain the opportunity to collaborate.
If you’ve been tasked with something to do independently, it’s best to try to do it on your own. But if you’re stymied, seeking advice or assistance gives someone the opportunity to share with you. While not everyone is able to say “yes,” people are often honoured by the request. It means you admired their expertise or abilities enough to inquire.
3. You gain the opportunity to learn.
Pay attention to who is willing to help and what they are willing to do for you. If it’s advice, take notes so you don’t have to ask the same questions twice.
Here are some of the articles that I found interesting:
Back to my Wednesday.
That Wednesday, 2 weeks prior to the event. The challenge was to order T-Shirts with a customer logo print. Easy you would think. However, the logo had to be created first. All I had was the font and copy.
I spent a good amount of time trying to figure out how to create the logo that I could upload with that bespoke font on a black T-shirt. I simply could not figure it out as I didn’t have the tools nor the expertise or skills to do this. I have postponed the task to the next day, and now the time to deliver the shirts is getting shorter. The next day, I had a meeting with a good friend and colleague from Vast Forward and I shared my challenge with her — even though it was a completely different topic and not related to our project.
She gave me the name of a person that I knew from a few meetings and exchanging messages, who could potentially help. So I did. I sent her a brief message with the font and copy and briefly explained my challenge (btw which had nothing to do with her job or project). I was purely asking for help without anything in return. 5 minutes after I sent the message I received her response with two types of logos attached saying “How about this? Would this work?”
5 Minutes!
5 Minutes spent with much more unquantifiable and valuable time in return. One person was happy to be able to help and the other was grateful to receive support and move forward.
When was the last time you asked someone for help and had a positive response?
If you know of recent studies about psychological effects and examples for help and support, please share them as I am keen to read and learn more about that too.
