Managing “Across”
The fourth in a series of posts elaborating on my list of skills to use when dealing with difficult personalities.
Now that I’ve talked about my philosophies on managing up and down, you can probably guess what managing across is all about. Band together, boys. Band together. (Even if you’re not male.)
People on your level on the org chart are your allies, even if they’re in different departments and even if they’re annoying or shy. You’re all in this together, and if you can help each other you’ll be able to call in a marker if you need to - and move as a force when you have to. I’m not saying you need to start a union. I’m saying when you see someone down the cubical row from you hitting crunch a week sooner than you, ask if there’s anything you can do to get them home an hour earlier that night. They’ll return the favor later on.
If you share knowledge instead of hording it, you can combine efforts and better accomplish your own goals. In a large organization it’s tempting to batten down the hatches and defend your turf at all costs. Unfortunately, this strategy results in progress grinding to a halt.
Real life example that saved my sanity:
At one point I was head of a very small department inside a very big company. My group was doing important things, but they were very different things from what the rest of the company was working on. One powerful person was very much of the mindset that his limited resources should be focused on maintaining what was necessary for the majority, and the little minority groups should conform for the greater good. He believed this to his very core, and no ammount of me explaining how badly it hamstrung my department was changing his mind.
I floundered on my own for a while, beating my head against the brick wall. My staff was in revolt, the people above me were disapointed in our work and I was going crazy trying to turn a sow’s ear into a silk purse.
I wasn’t looking to change the world - I just wanted to be allowed to use a different tech solution. I didn’t even want anyone else to be responsible for maintaining that tech. Still, this was NOT ALLOWED.
Finally I started asking other people across the org chart how they were making due with the one-size-fits-all solution. Some of them were pleased, others were unimpressed but making due. A few other very small departments were also having problems - not to the extent that I was, but they were there.
Suddenly, I wasn’t all alone. Sure, it wasn’t an army, but it was proof I wasn’t crazy. We put our heads together and formulated a plan. We set up a meeting with the brick wall and two VP’s who could tell the brick wall what to do. Together, we were a force to be reconned with.
We illustrated how the one way or the highway method wasn’t working across the board. The VP’s couldn’t see why we shouldn’t be allowed to do our jobs, and could see our nemesis was washing his hands of us. As long as he wasn’t going to be seen as responsible when something went wrong, he was willing to let us go down our road to ruin.
Alone, my problems weren’t big enough to force a change. Together we made a difference - and were quite successful in spite of the dire predictions.