“It all depends on who you’re working with.”
That was the feedback from team members to a recent survey about the state of collaboration within our department. The feedback was consistent. Collaboration is…well…inconsistent. It all depends on who you’re working with.
In all organizations you’ll hear people complain about the difficulty of working with certain colleagues. The common refrain is, “If only they would _____…”— communicate better, be more responsive, give me all the information I need…fill in the blank with whatever reason suits the occasion.
Instead of being frustrated with other people not being easy to work with, shift the focus to
yourself. Are YOU are easy to work with? If you are easy to do business with, odds are
you’ll find others much more willing to cooperate and collaborate with you.
Here are seven ways to make it easy for people to work with you:
1. Build rapport – People want to work with people they like. Are you likable? Do you
build rapport with your colleagues? Get to know them personally, engage in small talk
(even if it’s not your “thing”), learn about their lives outside of work, and take a genuine
interest in them as people, not just a co-worker who’s there to do a job.
2. Be a good communicator – Poor communication is at the root of many workplace
conflicts. People who are easy to work with share information openly and timely, keep
others informed as projects evolve, talk through out of the box situations rather than make
assumptions, and they ask questions if they aren’t sure of the answer. As a general rule,
it’s better to over-communicate than under-communicate.
3. Make their job easier – If you want to gain people’s cooperation, make their job easier
and they’ll love you for it. But how do you know what makes their job easier? Ask them! If
handing off information in a form rather than a chain of emails makes their job easier,
then do it. If it helps your colleague to talk over questions on the phone rather than
through email, then give them a call. Identify the WIIFM (what’s in it for me) from your
colleague’s perspective and it will help you tailor your interactions so both your and their
needs are met.
4. Provide the “why” behind your requests – Very few people like being told what to do.
They want to understand why something needs to be done so they can make intelligent
decisions about the best way to proceed. Simply passing off information and asking
someone to “just do it like I said” is rude and condescending. Make sure your colleagues
understand the context of your request, why it’s important, and how critical they are to the
success of the task/project. Doing so will have them working with you, not against you.
5. Be trustworthy – Above all, be trustworthy. Follow through on your commitments, keep
your word, act with integrity, demonstrate competence in your own work, be honest, admit
mistakes, and apologize when necessary. Trust is the foundation of any healthy
relationship, and if you want to work well with others, it’s imperative you focus on
building trust in the relationship. Trust starts with being trustworthy yourself.
6. Don’t hide behind electronic communication – Email and Instant Message have their
place in organizations, but they don’t replace more personal means of communication like
speaking on the phone or face to face. I’ve seen it time and time again – minor problems
escalate into major blowouts because people refuse to get out from behind their desks, walk
to their colleague’s office, and discuss a situation face to face. It’s much easier to hide
behind the computer and fire off nasty-grams than it is to talk to someone about a
problem. Just step away from the computer, please!
7. Consistently follow the process – Process…for some people that’s a dirty word and
anathema for how they work. However, processes exist for a reason. Usually they are in
place to ensure consistency, quality, efficiency, and productivity. When you follow the
process, you show your colleagues you respect the norms and boundaries for how you’ve
agreed to work together. If you visited a friend’s home and were asked to remove your
shoes at the door, you would do so out of respect, right? You wouldn’t make excuses about
it being inconvenient or it not being the way you do things in your house. Why should it
be different at work? If you need to fill out a form, then fill it out. If you need to use a
certain software system to get your information, then use it. Quit making excuses and do
work the way it was designed to be done. Besides, if you consistently follow the process,
you’ll experience much more grace from your colleagues for those times you legitimately
need to deviate from it.
No one likes to think of him/herself as being difficult to work with, yet from time to time
we all make life difficult for our colleagues. Focus on what you can do to be easy to do
business with and you’ll find that over time others become easier to work with as well.