Getting in the room - Will Larson

This resource first appeared in issue #18 on 03 Apr 2020 and has tags Managing Your Career: Other

One problem we sometimes have, when “managing up” within our organization, or trying to work with research communities, is the struggle to be in the right room when decisions are being made. Research computing staff, being a supporting role, can often be an afterthought (if thought of at all) when making plans, funding decisions, or setting strategy — with the end result that sometimes decisions are made which are unimplementable, or implementable only with great difficulty, when it comes time to build technical solutions.

This article describes what you need to get into those rooms:

To bring something useful to bring to the room…
…that the room doesn’t already have.
A sponsor in the room.
Stay aligned with your manager.
Optimize for the group.
Speak clearly and concisely.
Be low friction.
Come prepared.

And now to avoid being removed from the because of:

Misunderstanding the room’s purpose.
Being dogmatic.
Withholding consent.
Embarrassing your sponsor.

It’s also important to know when to leave the room — there are a lot of rooms, you can’t be anywhere, and you have to focus your energies where you can do the best good.