Slacker Manager

Want to Make Your Job Easier? Just Ask!

by Phil Gerbyshak on February 18th, 2008

Michael Kanazawa is co-author of the book BIG Ideas to BIG Results, and has a blog under the same name.

There are a lot of ways to try to make your job easier. You can re-engineer complete processes, install new IT systems, and reorganize your organization. But, do those really make life easier? And what if you aren’t the Grand Who-Hah who can launch those types of major initiatives…what do you do then?

One of the most often overlooked methods for making work easier, is to simply ask for help. Why is it that we find it so hard to simply ask for help? For some it is a concern that you will look deficient if you need to ask for help. But in not asking for help, you get overwhelmed, you under-deliver results, and end up looking deficient anyway. While the person who asks for help makes their job look effortless and sails on to victory after victory. Also, many of us get so hung up in delivering results on our own that we don’t ever think about who we would ask for help, we assume they might be too busy to help and don’t know what we would ask for even if we did attempt to get help.

Now, before you jump up from your desk and run down the hall to solicit help from your co-workers, boss, or colleagues there is an art to asking for help. Tune up on that first, and then go out.

3 Rules to Asking For Help

1. Build real relationships when you don’t need anything. Get to know people at a more personal level. Share something more about yourself than just your job title and task list. Develop a genuine interest in getting to know others so that you can be helpful to them. Don’t expect anything in return, but rather make meeting new and interesting people the benefit itself. To give you an idea of the personal things you can share with other business people, here is an example that Phil Gerbyshak tagged me to write on my blog recently as 6 Things You Didn’t Know About Michael Kanazawa.
2. Know What to Ask For: Get to know others well enough that you understand what they are interested in, where their strengths are, who they know and what they are trying to achieve. Not only can you then try to help them more, but you’ll also be able to understand how they might be able to help you.
3. Asking for Help is Resourcefulness, Not a Weakness: Go ahead and ask for introduction, connections, advice, or feedback on something. It is amazing the resources that people have if you just take the time to get to know them and simply ASK!

Most people are very happy to help others who simply ask, especially where there is a two way relationship. After checking out my blog and the 6 Things You Didn’t Know About Michael Kanazawa list, feel free to ask me for help on something that I might be able to do for you.

And my “ask” of you: I’m just launching a new book, BIG Ideas to BIG Results that will change your thinking about how to lead and manage with more impact. If you’re interested, please buy the book. If you are a manager, consider buying the book for your team. And, if you think your company can benefit from a speech or presentation, please have the right person contact the BrightSight Group speakers’ bureau.

There, that wasn’t so hard. And really, let me know if there is some way I can help you too, just ask.

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POSTED IN: career, guest posts