Comment:     by Geoff Plumstead 4/25/2007 My 'top tips' would be ... 1. Prefix any verbal / email request with something like "I know you must be very busy at the moment, but I need your expertise to ..." - I know it sounds a bit toadying (feel free to change the wording!), but it acknowledges 2 important things. One, you understand they have other work items & you are asking to add something else to their 'to do' list. Two, they have skills / expertise that you need. Hey, a little flattery / praise never hurt anyone (providing it's deserved!). 2. Tell them clearly what you think you need. Give them as much information as possible to be able to make...Read On
	Comment:     by Sidney Snook 3/7/2007 There is also the nautical approach to "roadblocks": "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!" - Admiral David Farragut ...or "I'd rather beg forgiveness rather than permission." I have used these approaches to project "roadblocks". While these appraoches usually have lead to project success they often have also lead to a lot of extra effort doing more effort or someone elses's job...and a lot of "dead or wounded bodies" (relationships) along the way. However,sometimes on ultra-critical, high-risk projects these appraoches are justified...and necessary. One day at a time, friend! Author's Response: 3/7/2007     Hi, Sid. Yes, I often wait to ask for permission until after I've done the action in question. Only rarely do I have to ask for forgiveness afterward, so it sounds like this approach has been more successful in my case. By the way - does it matter if you do something that's "someone else's job?" If you do it right, helping the person who should be doing it but can't adjust their priorities to make the time for it, it can be a successful way to shuffle resources. I agree that sometimes you'll ruffle feathers if you can't get the cooperation you need, but still from the point of view of your sphere of influence, you've successfully gotten your job done the best way you could. In practically all of my projects, there's some amount of "damn the torpedoes," i.e., choosing to work in a minefield, at least at the point they bring in consulting help. Some people like these projects and others don't; fortunately, you have a broad range to choose from out there.
	Comment:     by Jered Biard 10/10/2006 What would you suggest is the proper course of action if your manager is the one putting up roadblocks to your progress? In this case it is not intentional, but the manager in question is entrenched in the development of a new product. The test team needs a complete set of requirements and other documents to be completed, but human resources are limited. Development deadlines are fairly tight, and apparently time was not allocated to handle proper documentation. I am sure the QA team will be held accountable for the release of "working" software, but without proper doc, we are hunting the proverbial needle, but without knowing what a...Read On Author's Response: 10/10/2006     It's quite possible to find problems the developers will want to fix, even without having any documentation about the system. You might miss some important bugs, especially missing features, and it's important that your manager understands this and agrees that that's not your fault. Don't accept responsibility for the quality of the software--that's dangerous to do even when you do have solid requirements. Find out what your manager expects of you and determine now whether you can meet that expectation with the resources you have available. For more about this topic, see the classic article "Testing in the Dark" -- search for the title (including the quotes) on StickyMinds.
	Comment:     by Chris Hansen 10/4/2006 Very interesting article. My take on management is that a manager is there to ask you the question: "Are there any roadblocks in the way of your doing your job? How can I help remove them?" My experience is that in business, personality often gets in the way of getting others to do what you need them to do. Internal politics often intrudes as well. Thus, it's not as clearcut as it might seem to get assistance from someone else whom you yourself do not work with or manage. I have had experience with a manager who, in fear of his own job, did not back me up in this type of situation. How would you deal with that? I ended up moving laterally in...Read On Author's Response: 10/4/2006     The manager should ask about roadblocks, but the people on the team shouldn't wait for the manager to ask. When the manager asks the question, it serves as a reminder to ask for help when needed, and often it prompts a response not at the moment but a few days or weeks later when someone hits a roadblock. In the difficult situation you mentioned where your manager isn't being helpful, what you have to do is renegotiate his expectations. Does he admit that there's a roadblock that is difficult to clear, and thus change what you're expected to get done? You should be proactive in trying to influence other people in the organization to help you, but if your manager expects you to do this successfully every time without his help, you will eventually fail to meet his unreasonable expectations and will need to make a move at some point.
	Comment:     by krishna kumar 10/3/2006 Your article has very valuables inputs and tips to tackle roadblocks. Author's Response: 10/4/2006     Glad to know it was helpful. Here's one more tip that helped me on the job yesterday - offer to help your manager when she encounters a roadblock that affects your work. My manager needed me to investigate why we encountering a reliability problem in production that we weren't seeing in the test environment. She needed to get access to resources from another manager before I could get started. I offered to work with this other manager myself to get it done. So even though my manager was in meetings most of the day, we were making progress on the issue.

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