Today I discovered a miscommunication between two different groups of people. The key people in each group were, due to illness and external circumstances, missing in action for a while, and as a result, a third group (much larger than the other two) would be affected. It wouldn’t be the end of the world, but the third group would be left behind as the rest of the organisation was already prepared for the project.
One piece of advice I was given by an observer was to ‘stay out of it’. Let both groups discover their oversight and fix the problem on their own. I already had enough work on my plate and it would not be possible to look out for everyone else.
However, I saw things a little differently. Firstly, my team (and neighbouring teams) were part of this third group, and we would all be affected. Every day that we kept quiet, despite knowing of the problem, was a day lost in getting the work done with a certain level of quality.
Secondly, this was not a case of ‘us versus them’ - we are all part of the organisation. Plus, I know the people involved well enough to tell them directly without hurting any feelings. We’re here to fix the problem, not to point fingers - there’s really no ‘point’ at this stage.
So I decided to alert the leader of the first group, and suggested an alternative course of action. Hopefully by tomorrow things will be remedied. Better late than never.
The question that came to my mind after this exchange, was: Can we care too much at work?
Comments