You need some help from another department to get a job done. The colleague over there is delighted to receive your request, does a great job and finally asks you what else he can do for you while serving you a cup of tea. If this is your everyday life, feel free to stop reading.
If your life is not quite like this, the good news is: This can be improved. Two ingredients are required: Firstly, a useful framework to understand what is going wrong. Secondly, a toolbox to influence this. No toolbox is like being a neurologist: You can diagnose anything, but do nothing about it. No framework is like being a surgeon: You don’t understand it, but that doesn’t stop you from removing it.
So, onto the framework. Irrespective as to whether you are a project team member, a manager or the CEO: Ask yourself three simple questions when working with others. The first one is on concerns: What moves the people involved? The second one is on competencies: What can they move? The third one is on coordination: What makes them move in sync or sequence?
Why are these the right questions? Simply because they adress the three conditions necessary for success. People will do nothing if they don’t care about topic or consequences. They can do nothing without the right competencies. And there will not be the expected outcome without work being organized in the logical way.
Ask yourself the three questions each and every time you work with others. You will be surprised how often you will spot missing links, thereby significantly increasing your chances of success. When you work with others in ChangeMaker, our solution helps you to get the three critical success factors right.