One of the most common challenges I’ve run into is having a partner come to me with a solution to a problem they’ve run into. This might take the form of “Have Workday do XYZ”, or “Build me this type of report”, or “Use this tool to do X”. Part of me really appreciates my partners taking the time to figure out what they want to happen… but a much larger part of me has a blood pressure spike and a few more grey hairs pop up.
Why the grey hair?
I really do appreciate my partners taking a stab at figuring out what’s going on. I get the grey hair for a few reasons:
Generally partners don’t have the full picture - Partners usually are only aware of the aspects of systems they interact with (which is all we can expect or ask of them!). This means they frequently are unaware of other solutions, or of interactions with other systems.
Partners are usually not technical experts - Nor should they be! I frequently tell mine I’m not an HR expert and I’m glad they’re around to do that. That acknowledgment also means I don’t go tell them how to fix HR challenges though.
Their focus is only on their stuff - One of my favorite phrases is “This is my P0 (priority 0)”.(more on that in another post!). Everyone (me included!) has a personal list of what’s important, and nothing else comes close. This makes things problematic as partners get tunnel vision on just their own items.
When a partner brings me a solution they’re generally already stuck on one (or more!) of those items. This means I have to take time to talk them down (all that de-escalation training at the help desk REALLY comes in handy!) and explain why their solution may not be the best idea.
Why it’s challenging
While I find it great that my partners put thought into a solution before they come to me or my team, it tends to set us up for failure in a few ways:
They put energy into it - Once someone puts time/energy into something it’s MUCH harder to change their mind
They’re “stuck” on their idea - Everyone likes their own ideas, and it gets particularly challenging to try to change their thinking.
The clocks (usually) ticking - Since my partner’s already taken time to come up with an idea we now have less time to build one together. This can be particularly troublesome with highly sensitive asks.
These generally occur in some combination, which makes the initial talk mostly focused on talking my partner down or trying to find ways to reshape their thinking.
Just come back off the ledge…
This is where I find connections with my partners to be particularly important. When I first work with someone I don’t have any credibility (other than being the “IT” guy), so I have to build it on the fly. Once I have an established work relationship that process is a LOT quicker, allowing us to get to the source of the problem much more quickly.
I use a number of tools/tricks to help with this, but some of my favorite:
What are you trying to solve with this? - This question helps my partner focus on the problem and gives me an “in” to have them demonstrate it. This makes it easier to change their thinking about a solution.
Why do you want to do this? - Similar to the above it makes my partner explain how they got to their solution, which helps me figure out WHY they (think they) want it.
Who else have you spoke to about this? - This is a great question to help determine where their solution idea came from. This can then help me figure out how they came up with their idea.
Getting to a good endpoint
Usually this boils down to spending an hour with my partner to go backwards through their solution. This can be a painful process, but helps us uncover why they wanted that particular thing and, more importantly, better understand the underlying problem. There are some times when their solution ends up being the one we go with, but many times we land on a different approach (usually based on information my partner didn’t have, e.g. how a system operates).
The most important aspect of this approach is the time spent with my partner. This helps build a positive relationship with them, which will only help me out in the future. As the relationship progresses both my partners and I get better and presenting challenges, and developing solutions.