QUESTION: Recently, a new colleague has joined my team. My boss has instructed us that we have to work very closely together as a team to deliver on goals, but whenever there is a brainstorming session on she never fails to say, “I don’t know,” and I end up being the one coming up with all the ideas. I tried bringing this up with my boss, and she said I’ll have to iron this matter out with my new colleague. Is there is a way of politely telling my new colleague that she can’t always give an “I don’t know” answer and needs to pitch in and do her part?
ANSWER: I’ve worked with someone like this and at the time, it was incredibly frustrating. We were supposed to collaborators and peers; we were equally responsible and we presented our work as team. But in our brainstorming sessions, I found that I was doing all the planning, talking, idea generating, and strategizing while my so-called partner merely agreed and recorded the information as if she were my assistant.
After some time had passed, I came to realize that big-picture thinking (which drives our creativity and brainstorming processes) was not her strength and that’s OK. Get to the root of the issue; get to know her and find out why she is not contributing. If it’s a case of missing capability, unless the only work that you and your colleague do is come up with ideas, perhaps it can be acceptable that you come up with ideas and set the strategy while she contributes in a different manner (for example, detail-oriented people are very consistent, do well with routine work day after day, and have an exceptional ability to catch small errors and point out oversights).
This was my answer to the September reader question on the Intuit QuickBase Blog. To see three other expert perspectives on the topic, please view the original post at 360 Answers: When A Colleague Won’t Contribute Ideas.