A lot of professionals want to work better with coworkers but aren’t sure how to start. You may need things from other people in the office but are frustrated when they don’t respond quickly to your urgent needs.
The problem may not be rooted in mean-spiritedness but rather a lack of knowledge about what you do on the job. In this episode of our Employee Productivity series, you’ll learn a simple way to explain your needs. It’s inspired by a high school dance.
What Productivity Questions Does This Video Answer?
- How to work better with coworkers?
- How to better understand people’s needs?
- Why your coworkers don’t understand your requests?
- How your job is sometimes like the prom?
Video Transcript for How to Work Better with Coworkers
If you feel like your coworkers don’t understand your needs, then want you to think about the prom. What’s the most important thing about the prom? A photographer would say those photos that last a lifetime. The florist would say the corsage. The department store would say that dress that will be so memorable.
All of these people are right and yet, it may not be the most important reason for you. That same thing can happen at work.
Sometimes you may have a very important need that other people just don’t understand because it’s outside of their normal priorities. So what do you do when you have requests and you need them to kind of move them up the list a little bit?
I think the best thing is to to make sure you’re explaining to people what you need to do and why it is important. Often in organizations, we work in parallel, with one another. We know other people are doing important stuff but they’re kind of over there and we don’t know what they’re doing. It’s kind of like magic.
When you understand the importance of something, suddenly you may respond a bit better to a request.
It would be as if the florist said, “Hey, I need to make sure that we have some refrigeration to keep the flowers nice and fresh, until it’s time to use them.”
Well a photographer might not understand that but once explained, it all makes sense. A request that seemed a little out there now is doable.
So think about the prom the next time you’re trying to deal with another department, where maybe the relations haven’t been so good in the past. Hey, maybe you’ll end up going to the ball together.
About This Video Series
Ken Okel’s ongoing Employee Productivity video series will make you more effective on the job. Every week, you’ll learn a new, easy to understand, problem solving tip that you can use right away, like communication tips for leaders.
Tired of a productivity problem, like undefined work life boundaries? Let us know and we’ll feature it in an upcoming episode.
About Ken Okel
As a motivational speaker, Ken Okel works with leaders and organizations to boost productivity, performance, and profits. At conferences, conventions, and company meetings, he engages audiences with new ways to maximize their time at work. To see a sample of his keynote and workshop presentations, visit his video page.
