How to get things done

To get a person to your way of thinking or doing what you want him to do is not an easy task. Mainly this involves the other person’s ego and to get around the problem without hurting his ego but at the same time, getting your job done, needs a little bit of diplomacy. One such incident recently occurred and I wish to share it with you.

Though I belong to the medical profession, I cannot but confess that the ego of many doctors is way ahead of many a professional. Some have egos in the upper case — in capital letters. Rightly so, in some instances. So, getting a doctor working under you to do something, is not an easy task either, since one has to tackle the problem without hurting his or her ego.

One of the doctors working in our institution, who is very senior was occupying a consultation chamber in an area which was on the ground floor near to rooms where procedures like Echocardiography and ECG, etc.,were being performed. His consultation room was needed for accommodating another junior consultant who had to be in the procedure room to perform these procedures. The request was genuine. The problem was to get the senior consultant to shift to a room one floor above.

One of the managers belonging to the HR department had met him and told him that he needs to move to a floor above and this room was needed by another. This was indeed tactless of the HR manager. The consultant’s ego was hurt and he blew his top and declared that he was senior and had to be given preference to choose the room he needed and he would never shift out of this consultation cabin. Things were in a stalemate when the problem was brought to me as I was the Chief of Medical Services.

I gave it a lot of thought as I wanted the room for the junior consultant and needed to shift the senior chap up one level to the upper floor. I said that I would decide the next day.

As I ruminated on the problem that night, I sought the help of the time- honored book on my shelf which I had been reading since my school days –“How to Win Friends and Influence People” by the late Dale Carnegie. I am sure that my readers will be familiar with the book. For half of my work as Chief of Medical Services of my institution, I would give credit to this book.

Two cardinal rules that Carnegie proposed were ‘ Talk in terms of the other person’s interests’ and ‘Make the other person feel important-and do it sincerely and get him to say “yes” “yes”’. I decided to apply these rules to the present situation.

I went to the room of the senior consultant, “Dr. M…, It has been so nice having you with us for all these years and the management is immensely pleased with your performance. I feel that we need a upgrade your position in this hospital as well as your environment. I came and checked your present consultation room yesterday when you had left and found that the room was too small for a man of your seniority and caliber. Another thing I noticed was that your room had no window and it was small. You were seeing your patients in artificial light. I felt that it was time that you had something better from our side and I wanted to give you a bigger and more comfortable room with more natural sunlight and a large window with a view. Don’t you agree?”

He jumped at my request, “True, Dr. Sahasranam,”he said, “Nobody even bothered to check my room and ask me whether I was comfortable in this dingy room until today. I am so glad that at least you had the goodness to enquire about me”

“Shall I arrange a better room for you with all facilities, larger, with a window with a view and add a couple of wall photographs to enliven the mood. Would you like me to do that for you? If you want any more embellishments, I can also arrange all that, courtesy of the management ”, I said with a smile.

He jumped at the suggestion, “Oh sure, I will be glad and grateful. Can you do it?”

“Sure, I shall do it. Who else will I do it for, if not for you? The room is in the first floor and the area is very quiet and far from the din and bustle of the ground floor where you are now. Would you mind?”

“Absolutely not, how soon can you do it?”

“Monday for sure”, I said “And I will keep my word. Good day”. I heaved a sigh of relief. Monday was 48 hours away.

Monday morning came. Everything was in place and I had got his room shifted to the first floor to a consultation cabin with a window, slightly larger than the previous one with a couple of beautiful paintings on the wall. As a bonus, I asked the maintenance department to add a colorful curtain to his window. He was thrilled. He called me back and said “Thank you. You did a wonderful job”

Friends, I really did not do anything. He did everything for me and solved the problem himself. I only made him feel that the idea was his and not mine and did it without hurting his ego.

So don’t forget the golden point of talking in terms of the other person’s interests and sincerely making the other person feel important. That is the art of getting things done.

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