How do you get others to work (harder) for you?

Danny is a program manager. He enjoys organizing and arranging. Danny works for a healthcare organization and is responsible for managing and coordinating the design of a number of new buildings. A very nice project with big interests, tight deadlines and lots of people who need to be managed to deliver their part on time and properly.

Danny is energetic, businesslike and … impatient. If he asks something of people, he expects them to do it – and not in a few months, but now!

Financial analyses

And that doesn’t always happen. For example, Danny has a lot of trouble with Debby. Debby is in the Finance Department and helps Danny by making financial analyses. But somehow she never delivers the reports on time, or she obviously spends too little time on them.

Danny puts a lot of time into keeping a good relationship with her. At length he asks how her weekend was and how she is doing. Unfortunately, it doesn’t help to get better service from Debby.

Poorly reasoned decisions

Because Danny can’t get Debby to do what she needs to do, he gets into trouble with his project. Danny has to prepare management decisions – and he needs Debby’s reports to do that.

Without those reports, project progress is compromised. Or worse, decisions are made that are not financially sound.

So how to do that?

What should Danny do to get his report in on time? He needs to tap into his negotiating skills. After all, negotiation is what you do when you want something from someone else, which involves conflicting interests.

Danny is well on his way by paying attention to his relationship with Debby. But he doesn’t need to talk to her at length about her private life. He is better off paying attention to her professional life. He does that by empathizing with her problems.

Bargaining tips for Danny

• Don’t take it personally when others don’t do what you ask of them. Assume there is a good reason for it (that has nothing to do with you)
• Strategically negotiate priorities with managers. Often employees are caught between different demands. They can’t change that much themselves. But you can! By aligning priorities with their manager.
• Put yourself in the other person’s shoes: what is it like for him or her?
• Ask yourself if and how you can help the other person (without doing everything yourself, of course) Think of it more as paving the path for them.
• Ask questions! What keeps them from doing their job?
• Persisted in following up: “you were supposed to deliver those reports. I don’t have them yet. When will I get them?”
• Make clear agreements

This is how you achieve your goals – with the help of others and without doing everything yourself.

Good luck!