Need Help with Collaboration?

Working with others can present some challenges and sometimes you may need help with collaboration. You may be in charge of a project that depends on contributions from others. When people don’t give you what you need or are late in providing information, it creates a challenging and stressful situation.

The tricky thing is you may be working with peers or superiors, so you can’t order them to do anything. Some diplomacy is needed to motivate them to prioritize your needs during busy days. Here are some ways you can get what you need from your colleagues:

Make Them Heroes

Nagging people can backfire and not produce the results you need. Instead, appeal to the ego by setting up a scenario where the person may have greater motivation to help you.

Say something like, “Richard, you will be my hero if you can get me that information today. It would help me tremendously and I may even make carve a statue in your honor.”

This reply is a bit over the top but it’s a memorable and gentle reminder. The word, hero, is important. People like the idea of being a hero, of helping someone with their talents. It also resonates better than something that’s more like a past due notice from a utility.

Change the Deadlines to Get Help with Collaboration

In the past, Thursday may have been the due date for a project that is expected to be done first thing on Friday. Over time, some start to interpret the deadline to mean by the end of the day of Thursday, rather than an earlier time of day.

Yes, they got it to you on Thursday but the end of day arrival means you’ll have to work late to meet the Friday deadline. That creates stress and could lead to mistakes.

In this scenario, it’s time to rewrite history and change the due date for the materials. If it was Thursday, make it Tuesday.

When it comes to collaboration, you need to get the project done and not make it easy for others to treat it like a low priority.

Create Incentives

If multiple people need to contribute to the project, highlight those who are getting their work done in a timely fashion. This can also serve as a gentle reminder of the project to those who may have made it a low priority.

You could put out an email that says something like, “Three cheers for Alison, Bryan, and Teddi for submitting their work for the project. Miles, Brittany, and Thomas, I know you’re not far behind.”

Maybe you raise the stakes with some kind of giveaway. Perhaps, those who get you their materials before the deadline are entered into a drawing for a $5 gift card.

The giveaway doesn’t have to involve a monetary prize. It could see you praise the person, share something fun about them, like a hobby, the school they attended, a family accomplishment, or something else that is public knowledge but not necessarily known by everyone.

An example of this could be, “As you know, Theresa is a big fan of the Florida Gators and I’m sure she was cheering them on this past weekend when they played Georgia.”

The Nuclear Option for Help with Collaboration

If nothing else works, you may need to get help from a superior or the person who put you in charge of the project. This can be tricky because you don’t want to make it seem like you’re complaining about others or are unable to get things done on your own.

Instead, you want to keep the focus on the work and remove emotion. You may want to say something like, “You asked me to do a project. I’m not seeing the level of buy-in you and I expect from those are contributors. Will you help me make, the work I need, more of a priority for all, so it can be completed to the level you expect?”

This may lead to a strong reminder that produces action. It’s also possible you’re not getting the work you need from others because they are tied up with other tasks. Your conversation with the superior could lead to a reprioritization of workloads.

None of this happens if you don’t speak up. If you’ve made a reasonable demand and if nothing changes, then you may want to think about your future with the organization.