In today's fast-paced workplace, employees are under immense pressure to deliver high-quality work independently and efficiently. However, an overemphasis on individual performance can discourage collaboration and undermine teamwork. While self-sufficiency is valuable, an unwillingness or inability to ask for help when needed can negatively impact productivity, innovation, and job satisfaction (Hewlett, Marshall, & Sherbin, 2013; Kim, 2014).
Today we will explore why teams may struggle to solicit assistance from one another and will explore proven strategies leaders can implement to foster a culture where members feel comfortable collaborating without fear of appearing incompetent.
Barriers to Seeking Assistance Within Teams
While collaboration offers clear benefits, organizational teams sometimes struggle to ask for help even when needed. This section explores several key barriers that can discourage employees from seeking assistance from their peers. Understanding these impediments is an important first step for leaders aiming to foster a cooperative culture where team members feel comfortable soliciting input without fear or apprehension.
Fear of Appearing Incompetent: Significant research points to apprehension about competence as a primary deterrent to seeking help. People dread revealing gaps in their knowledge or skills for fear of being perceived as incapable (Lee, 1997; Schwinger et al., 2009; van der Rijt et al., 2019). This fear is heightened on high-performing teams where members face intense pressure to maintain flawless expertise in their domain. Studies show anxiety over competence affects men and women almost equally but manifests differently, with women more likely to avoid help due to concern about likeability in addition to ability (Gino et al., 2010).
Pressure to be Self-Sufficient: Cultural norms that emphasize independence and individual achievement can breed an "I don't need help" mentality (Hewlett, Marshall, & Sherbin, 2013; Kim, 2014). On teams incentivized for solitary productivity, members hesitate to admit deficiencies, instead attempting ill-advised self-reliance. This pressure toward autonomy mounts on project-based teams operating under tight deadlines (Lee et al., 2018). Leaders must recognize when an independent work culture overshadows the benefits of cooperation and knowledge-sharing between colleagues.
Concerns Over Reciprocity Obligations: The norm of social exchange theory proposes people help those who have previously helped them—implying a transactional view of assistance (Gouldner, 1960). On some teams, members withhold requests to avoid feeling indebted or obligated to return the favor down the line (Flynn & Lake, 2008; Lee, 1997). Leaders must ensure collaboration stems from mutual interest rather than contractual exchange if teams are to solicit help freely as needs arise throughout projects.
Strategies to Foster a Help-Seeking Culture
Having explored common barriers that hinder teams from soliciting assistance, this section examines proven approaches leaders can take to establish a cooperative workplace culture where help-seeking is encouraged and valued. A variety of strategies have been shown through research to effectively reduce apprehensions around asking for input from peers:
Promote Psychological Safety: Research shows psychological safety—feeling able to take interpersonal risks without negative consequences—strongly predicts collaboration in teams (Edmondson, 1999). Leaders establish trust by modeling admission of limitations, praising attempts instead of results, and diffusing fears of incompetence or judgment from peers (Carmeli & Gittell, 2009).
Incentivize Help-Giving and Help-Seeking Behaviors: On high-performing software engineering teams at Microsoft and LinkedIn, leaders formalized expectations that members proactively offer assistance daily and ask for help at least weekly as part of performance reviews (Campbell, Whitehead, & Finkelstein, 2009; Kim, 2018). This approach reduced help-seeking apprehension by framing it as an intrinsic job requirement rather than weakness.
Foster Communal Goals and Interdependence: When teams define success collectively rather than individually, members view one another as allies instead of competitors who may exploit moments of vulnerability (Wageman, 1995). Interdependence also breeds willingness to help; on hospital scrub teams where roles overlap and tasks cannot proceed independently, assistance seeking and provision were frequent and fluid (Gittell, 2001).
Provide Multiple Help Channels: Offering varied paths to consult peers mitigates exposure concerns that come with face-to-face requests. For example, automaker Toyota's kaizens ("improvement ideas") fostered assistance through anonymous suggestion boxes (Liker & Convis, 2011). Virtual collaboration platforms likewise support casual, low-risk questions between dispersed coworkers.
Organizational Examples of Overcoming Barriers
The following section explores implementing the above strategies through real-world examples crossing multiple industries. Leaders gain actionable insight into cultivating help-seeking norms within their unique organizational contexts.
Promoting Psychological Safety at Deloitte
Deloitte recognizes psychological safety as pivotal for collaboration across its global consulting teams. Senior partners start meetings by candidly sharing doubts to role model vulnerability. Project updates highlight attempts rather than just wins. After risky advice, leaders say "Thank you for your willingness to put yourself out there." Deloitte finds this strengthens relationships and cultivates courage to broach uncertainties proactively with peers.
Incentivizing Help Behavior at Automattic
Famous for building the WordPress publishing platform through distributed work, Automattic implemented an "Support Sunday" policy where employees log helpful interactions. Those achieving two or more that week get a $25 gift card as a "ninja helper award." To get help, employees simply ask in the company chat; staff share solutions freely to earn real rewards. Automattic's playful incentives dissolve worries about asking while fulfilling communal work principles.
Fostering Interdependence at method
As a manufacturer tackling sustainability challenges, method teams pursue long-term communal goals through interdependent work. Employees in product creation assist quality assurance colleagues troubleshooting issues to launch on schedule together. Cross-functional collaboration reigns from new formulations to packaging improvements. Rather than fragmented roles, method's holistic assignments build an inclusive culture where members feel invested in one another's progress and problems.
Enabling Anonymized Help at Anthropic
Since its AI safety researchers disperse globally, Anthropic relies on digital tools to facilitate help seamlessly regardless of location. Through their internal forum, colleagues pose questions anonymously to defuse competence concerns when stuck on theoretical dilemmas. Peers freely chip in diverse perspectives until a solution takes shape without judgment. Anthropic proves keeping help convenient, respectful and impersonal reassures even experts to seek alternatives without losing face.
Conclusion
While independence offers value, true teamwork demands willingness to recognize gaps and solicit assistance courageously. Through understanding barriers like fear of incompetence or cultural expectations of autonomy, leaders can implement strategies dismantling such obstacles. Approaches like establishing psychological safety, incentivizing help behaviors, cultivating interdependence and enabling various digital help channels foster collaborative work cultures where members feel secure soliciting and providing aid as organizational needs dictate. When fear of vulnerability no longer paralyzes knowledge sharing between colleagues, teams maximize their innovative and productive capacity to execute ambitious goals that no individual could achieve in isolation. Ultimately, overcoming reluctance to collaborate through such proven best practices cultivates a spirit of communal achievement organizations need to thrive in today's demanding business landscape.
References
Campbell, J., Whitehead, J., & Finkelstein, S. (2009). Why good hackers matter. Inroads, 10(4), 56-61.
Carmeli, A., & Gittell, J. H. (2009). High-quality relationships, psychological safety, and learning from failures in work organizations. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 30(6), 709–729. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.565
Edmondson, A. (1999). Psychological safety and learning behavior in work teams. Administrative Science Quarterly, 44(2), 350–383. https://doi.org/10.2307/2666999
Flynn, F. J., & Lake, V. K. B. (2008). If you need help, just ask: Underestimating compliance with direct requests for help. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 95(1), 128–143. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.95.1.128
Gino, F., Brooks, A. W., & Schweitzer, M. E. (2010). Risk or reputation? How deception affects the financial decisions of negotiators. Organization Science, 22(3), 634–652.
Gittell, J. H. (2001). Supervisory span, relational coordination and flight departure performance: A reassessment of postbureaucracy theory. Organization Science, 12(4), 468-483. https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.12.4.468.10637
Gouldner, A. W. (1960). The norm of reciprocity: A preliminary statement. American Sociological Review, 25(2), 161–178. https://doi.org/10.2307/2092623
Hewlett, S. A., Marshall, M., & Sherbin, L. (2013). How diversity can drive innovation. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2013/12/how-diversity-can-drive-innovation
Kim, P. H. (2018). Being helpful: Why companies should stop worrying about weakness and start empowering (and hiring) helpful employees. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2018/07/being-helpful
Lee, F. (1997). When the going gets tough, do the tough ask for help? Help seeking and power motivation in organizations. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 72(3), 336–363. https://doi.org/10.1006/obhd.1997.2745
Lee, F., Recker, M., & Walker, A. (2018). Helping others or throwing a life line for myself?: Task characteristics and the propensity to help others versus help oneself. Journal of Applied Psychology, 103(8), 861–879. https://doi.org/10.1037/apl0000321
Liker, J. K., & Convis, G. L. (2011). The Toyota way to continuous improvement: Linking strategy and operational excellence to achieve superior performance. McGraw Hill Professional.
van der Rijt, J., van den Bossche, P., van de Wiel, M. W. J., Segers, M. S. R., & Gijselaers, W. H. (2019). Asking for help in the workplace: A motivation-ability framework. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 18(2), 182–205. https://doi.org/10.5465/amle.2017.0196
Wageman, R. (1995). Interdependence and group effectiveness. Administrative Science Quarterly, 40(1), 145. https://doi.org/10.2307/2393703
Jonathan H. Westover, PhD is Chief Academic & Learning Officer (HCI Academy); Chair/Professor, Organizational Leadership (UVU); OD Consultant (Human Capital Innovations). Read Jonathan Westover's executive profile here.
Comentarios