After two consecutive reorganizations, my coaching client, Kara, an experienced product group manager, found herself in a new reporting relationship with the chief product officer. Throughout her career, Kara had worked under managers with different leadership styles and, with experience, had gotten a better sense of her own over the years. While she was eager to start with her new boss, she wanted to make sure not to lose some of the unique ways she had been able to share her ideas and gain support for her teams. Kara wondered what she could do to set a strong foundation for a productive work relationship with her manager, how to effectively work together with people who may have different work styles, and reduce the likelihood of misunderstandings right from the beginning.
Before You Start Collaborating with Someone, Talk About Your Work Styles
When you’re working with new people, spending time upfront to have an explicit and open conversation about each other’s work styles and preferences can prove to be one of the best time investments. This “style alignment” conversation can lay a foundation for trust and understanding and help you set agreements for how to successfully work together. Yet, many people shy away from having these conversations for two reasons. First, they worry that it will take up too much time. Second, they fear that it might make style differences more obvious and aren’t sure how to bridge those. By having open and deep conversations about style and preferences, something powerful happens. If you better understand where someone is coming from, you don’t just react to their behavior and feel annoyed by making potentially false assumptions about why someone is behaving a certain way. Instead, you can bring more compassion and less reactivity into your work relationships and maybe even preempt work conflict.
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