by Chelvi Nava – Technical Lead, Infrastructure Engineering
It dismays me when I see the direct and knock-on effects of someone not engaging with another who needs their input, in a timely manner, in order to progress; particularly when it is a line manager.
Yes, you are busy, you have a lot on your plate but when someone asks for your input if you can put aside some time, perhaps not at that very moment if you are in mid-flow but in the next couple of hours, you will enable them to progress.
What happens when you don’t? The immediate effect is you make the other person feel as if their request was unreasonable or that they are ‘unimportant’. Remember, for most people it takes courage to walk up to someone, engrossed in their work, to ask them something; especially if that person is someone they are wanting to impress. The overall effect is they will either not progress to meet their deadline or they do move on without your input/guidance and the end product of their work will be poorer for it – maybe even irrelevant to the original brief. The whole team feels the effect and the individual loses more self-confidence.
There may be the rare occasion when you are so extremely pushed that you cannot spare them even ten minutes that day; but this is surely rare and if so, explain and ask if a brief input is sufficient or ask them to verbalise the issue quickly and then suggest someone else they can speak with.
What if you did stop and give them the time? Yes, you may feel under more stress because you have the same work to do now in even less time, but is being there for them/giving them said input part of your role? Will it improve their output? Is this then not for the good of the team/project? Is your output ‘more important’ than theirs? Is building the team part of your role?
You give them your time, they feel acknowledged, get the input they need and go on to complete their task in an assured way. In the long run this will save you time by improving the quality of the team’s work and building the confidence of your team. It also serves as an example for your team – they see being available as a valuable leadership quality. Dominoes the right way!
Then there is ‘perception’. Are you less ‘busy’ or less ‘important’ if you are seen to make time for others? I have worked to remain available in my various roles. When I was a Senior Lecturer, I maintained an open door policy. In industry I make efforts to remain available, even when having to start earlier and stay on longer to clear work coming in thick and fast. Sometimes I’ve heard it said behind my back, “She is obviously not that busy then”, generally from my peers, not the people I was giving my time to. Interestingly, when working on multi-disciplinary projects with these same peers, they enjoy the same considerations I give my own team i.e. I am available to them when they need my input. Over time they begin to appreciate this – it allows them to get on. The whispers die off and I see them begin to make efforts to be available to me when I need their input. Maybe overtime, it spreads even further.