Unblocking 101
Credit to a former coworker at Indeed, who originally laid out this strategy to me. I use it all the time.
When you are blocked by something, how do you get it unblocked? This simple 4-step strategy continues to be really effective.
- Find out who has the authority to solve your problem.
- Explain to them context/why it is important.
- Ask them politely for help.
- Follow-up.
Generally, when things are blocked it is because:
- The person you’re asking doesn’t have authority or know-how to resolve the issue.
- The person doesn’t have the context of why it’s important.
- The person is avoiding or punishing you for being annoying/rude/disruptive.
- The person got too busy and forgot.
The steps above attempt to resolve that issue.
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