The Things We Do that Hinder or Help Busy Colleagues
These routines can reduce unanswered emails and quicken decision-making
Busy working environments are distinguished by long lists of priorities, crowded email inboxes, and delays with receiving responses from colleagues.
I used to get easily frustrated when I had to wait days or weeks to get a reply from an email I sent to a peer or manager. I judged them with my inside voice and grumbled, “Do they even do any work?” Instead of internalizing how I could have made the situation easier, I blamed others for my frustrations.
A mindset that hinders work
Researchers describe this type of blaming as self-inflicted conflict creation. That when we blame others, we cause friction because we are out of touch with reality. We are unable to make connections between the deeply connected world we live in and that nothing happens in complete isolation. We contribute to the good and we also contribute to the not so good. Self-reflection, as Katrina Loos highlighted, is an important step to acknowledging this toxic trait.
Friction and conflict in the workplace slows us and prevents work from getting done among busy colleagues. I learned a method from a leadership seminar which reinforced my need to stop blaming others. It taught me to turn that pointed finger back to myself. Any time I begin to point accuse someone else, I stop to ask what I could have done to prevent the situation or what I’m feeling. It is one of those not easy but necessary ways to live a better (work) life.
“When you think everything is someone else’s fault, you suffer a lot. When you realize that everything springs only from yourself, you will learn both peace and joy.”
A mindset that helps work
I started to put effort into blaming less. I corrected myself immediately when my thoughts drifted to thinking others were doing less work than me or skirting their responsibilities. I turned my thinking toward they must be even busier than I am so what can I do to make their work-life easier? I experimented with ways to work better with my colleagues.
These are techniques I have collected from working in many fast-pace environments to improve working together with busy colleagues.
1) Get to know others
Building the mindset to get to know my colleagues is essential, I know that. Yet setting aside time to do so is not that easy. I used to dread it because I wanted to stay in my comfort zone. I felt spending time to chat with other colleagues meant I would have to put in extra time at work to get my deliverables done. And getting to know one another was a waste of time.
The time-waster is in fact when I’m unable to influence decisions or responses because I don’t know how to work with others’ busy schedules. Learning about my peers gave me insights into communicating methods that would stir their interest. When we have great working relationships, projects move faster.
Getting to know each other can be formal or casual. It can be sitting across each other in a boardroom or walking side by side around the office block.
Getting to know each other through chats can be structured to:
- Show excitement about something happening on a project
- Repeat the business goals and direction
- Establish a relationship of open communication
2) Capture information via paper, email, instant messaging
On new projects, many of us formulate our understanding of the business goals and project objectives with limited information. In each work environment, I have been in, individuals, managers, and executives juggle between wanting to help colleagues and meeting their objectives. Team members work hurriedly through projects and we all agree of information overload.
Sharing information once is not enough. It has to be repeated often. I learned that through my frustrations of having to repeat myself that the best communicators repeat the important points often. Capture information with these steps:
- Over-communicate; document short chats, meetings, any interactions that contain useful info
- Create an email distribution list or an online chat room so everyone receives the same info
- Ask for feedback, advice, missed details or questions at the end of each message. It is a great way to solicit input and build support.
3) Add key milestones and meetings to calendars
When dates for delivery or important meetings have been discussed or agreed to, add them to everyone’s calendars. As long as even one person from the project team does not have an invitation, there is a 50% chance the date will be missed.
In my early project management days, I screwed up by not putting an important meeting into the team’s calendars. I assumed we had discussed the date as a group and everyone would remember the date I set. When the meeting date arrived, most had forgotten because I didn’t secure their calendars. I had to reschedule because the two out of the five people were already busy. I was so embarrassed. That incident taught me to take responsibility and schedule the time if it’s important to have all invited attendees join.
- Send out an invite to hold the event in everyone’s calendars. Unknown details like agenda or other info can be added later. This helps everyone to share vacation plans early.
- Do a count down to the event. If it’s an event, remind attendees by sharing an agenda. If it’s a project milestone, remind team members the value of reaching this stage. If it’s a meeting, give notice of a decision that will be required in the meeting.
4) Offer assistance
Offer to help a workmate. Give a lot to others before expecting to receive help back. For example, I was able to call in a favour from a peer because I had helped him out when he had a hectic workload. I knew my colleague was up against a deadline and needed to have a meeting for a large group scheduled. I asked her if I could help with finding a suitable time and location for her team. She appreciated the gesture so much and I was glad I could help. Months later, I called in a favour to have her change her schedule to accommodate a project meeting I was responsible for. She was glad to and saved me time from what could have turned into a scheduling nightmare.
5) Give breaks in meeting schedules
Schedule 15-minute meetings instead of beginning with the traditional 30 or 60-minute increments. Adjust up or down based on the agenda. Busy people will welcome the refreshing change and be less annoyed because of losing their desk time.
Start a meeting with a 15-minute break in between. I learned this tip from a project manager who saw my back-to-back schedule and suggested a time that would give me a break in between meetings. I appreciated her gesture so much and now pay it forward to others.
Giving a short break for people running from meeting to meeting is valuable for the meeting organizer as well. It gives meeting attendees the extra time to prepare and come in ready to participate.
6) Request decisions within the first email paragraph
I used to organize an email with a greeting, background, analysis, then recommendation or decision needed. An example of what not to do is a version like this:
Hello everyone,
Thank you for the time you gave today to discuss the plan for a new product launch.
Since we met, I have analyzed our product testing results. The testing found that we have 2 critical issues, 9 medium priority bugs, and 15 user interface changes. We are investigating the two critical issues and expect to know more by the end of this week. Our development and testing team is working very hard to resolve these as soon as possible.
At this time, I recommend that we hold our launch plans because releasing this new product with two major issues would create a poor customer experience.
Could you please let us know if you agree with this?
Thanks, Vy.
There’s another way to grab the reader’s attention by re-organizing the above email. Years ago, I was frustrated with a manager because of her lack of response. I took time to craft lengthy emails that rarely received a reply even when I marked them urgent. I learned the reason she had missed my emails when she gave constructive feedback on my written communication style. She referred to an email I had sent that was similar to the one above. She explained that although the email was logically laid out, the call to action was too far down to grab a busy person’s attention. She showed me the positive impact of a revision like this:
Hello everyone,
I propose that delay our launch for X new product because we have found two critical issues. Launching now would create a poor customer experience. Could you please indicate if you have concerns after reviewing the additional information below.
Since we met, I have analyzed our product testing results. The testing found that we have 2 critical issues, 9 medium priority bugs, and 15 user interface changes. We are investigating the two critical issues and expect to know more by the end of this week. Our development and testing team is working very hard to resolve these as soon as possible.
Thank you for your time earlier today to discuss the new product launch plan.
Thanks, Vy.
I’m glad she taught me this simple re-organization trick. I’m now that leader who doesn’t take a mid-day break, multitasks often, and has constant alerts from multiple chats and email. I miss messages that don’t have a call to action for me in the first few lines. I assume it’s an FYI email only and skip it for later.
Getting time from busy people can be frustrating. I used to take it personally thinking they didn’t want to respond to my email or they didn’t care about my work. Deborah Keep, a master communicator stressed the importance of creating deliberate communications that we can learn from. When I learned techniques like the ones above, getting others’ attention became a lot easier.
