You can sit back and avoid the problem, choosing to ignore the fact that you and your co-workers can't seem to figure out a way to work together. Or, you can take charge, regardless of your position in the company or group and help your co-workers find a solid working solution. The chapter on lateral leadership goes over these steps. In this chapter, the book talks about avoiding setting individuals straight, so to speak. It discusses how you can positively ask another individual or group what you can do to make a specific situation better. Most people do not accept criticism very well. If the criticism is presented in a way that makes the individual feel like they are being attacked or ripped apart, that individual will simply react defensively. This chapter talks about how to make the individual feel like you have a serious interest in making the situation better while offering up your help, but how to avoid making the person feel like you are telling them that they have done something wrong. If you specifically tell an individual what they are doing wrong, you are singling them out. This chapter discuses how to appropriately tell a group about problems, which are arising, but how to avoid pinpointing any particular individual. For example, in a situation where a group of employees is trying to find a better organizational method for their project, where one employee is constantly forgetting important information, slacking off on research or losing important documents, instead of pinpointing that employee specifically, it is wiser to announce these issues to the group as a group, without using names.

Conclusion

Overall, Getting it Done, by Roger Fisher and Alan Sharp, offers a positive way to work as a group. This book can be applied to a professional...

Many people feel like they work better alone and do not enjoy working in groups, but this book shows the reader how working in a group can be beneficial to everyone and how to more efficiently work in a group, so that everyone feels like they are working together to accomplish the same goal.
Like the book would want an individual or group to structure their working environment, the book is also well-organized, well-written and easily understood. Because the information provided in the book is written in relatively simple terms, most people will have no problem understanding how to implement the book in everyday real-life situations.

This book can be applied to professional working environments, can be implemented by supervisor or committee leaders or individuals who find themselves working in a frustrated group. It can also be applied to an academic environment and would be a good book to study in a management discussion.

Most readers will find a lot of information that they find to be very generic throughout the book, but it will also point out details and thoughts that the reader may not have thought of on their own. The concepts are simple and most readers will read an instruction and find themselves asking why they hadn't thought of that originally on their own.

The authors provided an interesting step-by-step instruction manual that just about anyone can use and for individuals who are struggling in a group atmosphere, the book provides insight to what co-workers might be thinking and why individuals may be experiencing particular reactions to certain situations.

Citation References

Fisher, R. et. al.. (eds.) (1998). Getting it Done. New York Penguin Group.