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Recently a colleague came to me with a problem and, unfortunately, an unsolicited solution.
Why? Because he felt his solution would move the needle, something his boss asked him to do. But you wouldn’t tell your mechanic how to fix that strange noise coming from your engine. And you wouldn’t tell your doctor to remove your appendix because your side hurts.
I asked my colleague what he was trying to achieve: getting more people to his section of our website. We have a lot of people in our marketing department who have the same goal, so it isn’t an uncommon request. And my team’s job is to come up with the most appropriate solution. But his fix wasn’t going to, and really hasn’t since, achieved that goal. And that’s a loss for the company.
I wish I could say this was an isolated instance, but it happens a lot.
Stakeholders who bring me both problem and solution aren't going away anytime soon. I get that. And I know I’m not alone in dealing with this. So, I thought I’d offer some strategies I’ve employed to counter this behavior.
People come to me because of my skill set. My specialty is content and where it should go on our website, and my recommendations help keep it organized and consistent. What happens a lot is that people come to me with their problem and with a solution that has worked for them in the past. This is dangerous for two reasons: 1) people who come to you with a solution usually are going to be less open to alternative ideas, and 2) when they don’t allow me to get to the root of their problem, the complete problem doesn’t get solved. Gently remind them that you are the expert and that’s why they are coming to you in the first place.
It’s important to understand where your stakeholders are coming from. Asking the right questions can shed light on what they truly are trying to achieve. It also can affect your plan of attack. Instead of telling them upfront that their solution won’t work, hear them out and ask probing questions. Your point of view might change. Or, you might hear something that could lead to an alternative solution. But you first need to understand their perspective.
You don’t want to get the reputation of being a dreamkiller by saying no to everything. I have no problem telling my stakeholders that I’m happy to accommodate their request but don’t think their solution will have an impact, but if we delve deeper we might get to the root of the problem. Then it’s up to them to decide. When it’s a request that makes for a bad user experience on our website, however, I am firm and say no. This doesn’t make me popular, but my manager always backs me up because she too would make the same call.
Thankfully, data speaks for itself. And it usually doesn’t lie. Use it to your advantage to challenge, or support, opinions and theories your colleagues bring you. Data-driven decisions are easy to ladder up through management to key decision makers. If somebody wants to create something new on our website, I’ll pull analytic data from similar past projects. While not an exact comparison, they do add perspective.
In a different situation, another colleague recently came to me with both problem and solution. I thought her solution was great until someone else on the team came up with a more progressive idea. It was a better long-term fix because it implemented new technology and eliminated the need for the short-term fix that was first offered. First, I had to get over myself, because I really should have thought of this solution. It just didn’t dawn on me. Then, I had to convince my dubious stakeholder that it would work. My boss ended up making the final decision for us, and it was the long-term fix.
Being diplomatic when someone comes to you with both problem and solution is never easy, yet it’s always necessary. I constantly remind myself that me and my internal customers all are on the same team. It sometimes may not feel like it because their needs often seem to be at cross-purposes with mine, but we are. That’s where empathy can really help. Challenge yourself to look at each project individually and objectively, even if it appears to be identical to a previous project. You’ll be doing yourself a favor, and will arrive at solutions to your problems a lot more quickly.
