Hi there!!!

6 Comments

1. Barb HansenJanuary 10,2023 at 8:29PM UTC

   Ah the joys of needing input from teams that you don't have any control over.

   I recommend that you do some research on "Influence Without Authority" which is a commonplace skill set in Product, but you probably dont' have time to research this concept, and start implementing the tactics but, please still do some research and start implementing the Influence without Authority tactics - it's a great skill to grow no matter what role you play in business.

   And if you are in a Product role, this "influence without authority" skill set is almost a job requirement so learning this skill will help you go far in Product.

   So here are some tips that might help you:

   Side note: I'm assuming that you asked once and got shut down and that you haven't been asking continuously for days or weeks and annoyed that other person. I'll give you a hint at the end of my list if you think you've annoyed the person.

   1 - Can your deadline slide?

   Can you put off your work until that team has some cycles to help you?

   Ask the team lead when they are available and see if that timeline works for your manager?

   2 - If your deadline can't slide, find a work-around

   2.a - Can you find the data you need without the other team's input? Would they share data with you or access to their tool so you can collate the information yourself? I would also mention that you won't report anything without getting your data reviewed by the team lead.

   2.b - Can you do some of the work required to get this information?

   2.c - Can you take over some of this team's work on the other team for an hour or two (or however long this project is going to take) so someone is freed up to get you your data? I personally would offer to do some QA or a code review (both of which I have the skills to do) to speed up their deliverables. This suggestion only works if you have a transferrable skill set.

   3 - Try to find the win-win.

   Find the intersection of what you are asking for from the reticent team and what they are working on now (or in the future) . Finding a common goal is the best way to "influence without authority" but it's not always easy to see.

   4 - Throw a future favor on the table

   "I know this request is coming at the worst time, but if you can help me with this, I'll be forever in your debt and I know that Project/Feature ABC is coming up and I can help with getting XYZ done" (or whatever else you have to trade)

   5- Offer to give air cover for the team with their managers.

   "I know request is coming at the worst time, but my management team is screaming for this data. I've already chatting with your manager and she's willing to push the due date out on Project/Feature ABC for 1 day if you guys can get me this data by end of the week"

   6 - Tell your manager that you can't get the data.

   If that team is truly swamped and they are unable to help you, then tell your manager just that, but provide him a date when you will get the data.

   "I talked with Sue on the Apps Team and their schedule doesn't give them any cycles to help us until after this current sprint. I've already spoken with Sue and she has promised me that if we can wait until their next sprint it completed on Feb 6th, then she's get her team to dig out the data we need and we should have it all a few days after that. If you remember this sprint is releasing Feature XYZ that sales has been requesting for months so Sales, Marketing and Finance are pushing this team and they have no wiggle room.

   If that doesn't work for us, I'm happy to set a meeting up with you, me, Sue and her manager to discuss alternatives or you and him and just chat about corporate priorities."

   FYI - if you manager is going to escalate to his peer over Sue, let Sue know that meeting is coming so you don't blind side her. These meetings are common place but some people take offense instead of looking at them as "solution finding" meetings, so always give a heads up.

   If you think you've annoyed this person, then go hat-in-hand and apologize. "Hey, Sue, got a minute. I just wanted to say sorry for how I handled that data request thing last week. My boss was pushing me for the data and I didn't see that situation that you were in. I get it now and again, I apologize for being annoying. Can I grab you for 10 minutes today or tomorrow to brainstorm how we can both get our conflicting priorities resolved? I'm here to help and I'll make myself available whenever you've got a few minutes"

2. Mary PoolJanuary 12,2023 at 3:58PM UTC

   If my team is busy and I am the POC, I would need to know what benefit this disruption brings to my team. You don't say what department you work for, how the data will be utilized, and what benefits, if any, this has for other departments. Is this something your boss wants, or is it company mandated? How long will it take? How disruptive is it? What are the consequences if you give negative feedback about a team? Barb has excellent suggestions, but unless you can tell me the benefits, potential impacts, and the amount of time it will take, you are not disturbing my team. My job is to protect my team members, not to make your boss happy. Also, why were you assertive? When asking for access, assertiveness is quite often not helpful. Your note sounds like you believe you were entitled to access simply because you asked. But, as the POC pointed out, that is not a good enough reason to bother a busy team.

3. AnonymousJanuary 12,2023 at 4:34PM UTC

   Barb & Mary both have great thoughts & suggestions. My group often gets asked for material, data, meetings, and time for POCs, QBRs, etc. It’s fine and we want to do what’s best for the company, but like Mary pointed out…unless we understand the benefits, value, ask, time, etc. we push back. Just because someone has been asked by their leadership to do something, it doesn’t mean that it’s the right thing to do for my team or the company. Collaboration and a polite conversation with the other manager could help with that.In your post you said that your manager said “you must’ve rubbed her the wrong way” and then you mentioned you were “assertive”. It’s possible the assertiveness is what rubbed her the wrong way. It might have with me if someone came in acting like I had to do something because she said so, or I may have taken it as entitled (not that I should do either of these). Does your boss think she’s usually easy to work and collaborate with on these things? If so, what did others do to succeed?

4. AnonymousJanuary 13,2023 at 2:35PM UTC

   If the scores are a mandate set up by someone with governance over the app team, then I would take a step back and make sure you did a full introduction of the program and why they need to be involved, and then ask them when they can provide the data to you given their other current deliverables. If there's no mandate for them to provide the data, then it sounds like they're doing you a favor so if you were "assertive" as you stated, then that would explain why you didn't get a favorable reaction to your request.

5. Lisa MarieJanuary 14,2023 at 2:36AM UTC

   EVERY team in every organization have deliverables. Just completing a job task is completing a deliverable.

   ALMOST EVERYONE wastes SOME TIME... EVERY DARN DAY doing nonsensical things.... or smoking, or checking social media, etc.

   So no matter how "busy" the team was in working on their deliverables, that team lead is being unnecessarily unreasonable - especially since it must be obvious you're not asking for the data just for s-and-giggles.

   By refusing to provide answers, the person could be jeopardizing overall sucess, or YOUR individual sucess, and that's not acceptable- again, especially since it seems the tram lead didn't offer alternative times to get the data.

   Good luck getting the info you need.

6. Liz MilneJanuary 16,2023 at 5:13PM UTC

   Go back to her and ask when she and her team will be able to give the info - if she seems angry or 'off' with you, ask if you've offended her, explain that you've been given the job of gathering the data for your boss and then ask how you can resolve the issue so you are both compliant with company policy.