Are They Really That Stupid?

This post is a follow on to my previous post The Squeaking Wheel.

Do you remember that TV game show titled “You are the Weakest Link”? Well at times I would to see that short haired British woman at work telling people what they really are. It would be nice to have an outsider look in and tell it how it is. My goal is to help you identify if you are the squeaking wheel in your group and how you can make sure that you are not becoming to annoying. I start by providing a list of things to look out for.

• You are constantly talking about something but never solving it. You can always talk and that is easy but sometimes it is easier to just solve the problem. This will keep you out of trouble with your boss as well as keep you in good terms with your coworkers.
• Whenever you bring up a topic all the people in the group give you the same answer. The same answer that they have been giving you for the last five hundred times you brought it up. At this point it would be better to start suggesting solutions and you might get somewhere.

• You are beginning to get annoyed with yourself talking about the subject. This is a sure sign that you are beginning to annoy others with your topic. If you annoy yourself us this as a sign to find a new strategy.

• The boss asks you to mind your own business. This is a bad thing. If the boss is getting annoyed with your comments (many times not understanding them completely) then you have a really big problem. Immediately talk with him to find and solution and shut your mouth!

At times what you are trying to communicate is important and no one is listening to you for multiple reasons. If the topic you are trying to get solved is really causing trouble to the team and endangering the project then you should continue to be the squeaking wheel until your problem gets addressed. When you bring the problem you you feel that you are not making any traction then perhaps you have a problem with the presentation. Go back and think about how you are presenting yourself and the topic. Are you defensive? angry? or are you not communicating the problem clearly and with enough (or to much) detail to make everyone including management understand? Have you communicated the impact of not taking action?

After you have made sure that the team and management clearly understands the problem but does not feel the same passion about it as you do then fix it yourself or drop it. It is the job of management to make the final decision with the advice of the team as a whole.

I hope this helps some people discover that they have become a squeaking wheel and that sometimes it is best to move on. Are you the squeaking wheel in your team? Tell us about how to discovered you are and how you solved your problem.