Alright, let me tell you about this whole Collins and Williams thing I went through recently. It wasn’t exactly rocket science, but man, it took some doing.
Getting Started
So, the task landed on my desk: put together this internal report. Pretty standard stuff, usually. But this time, I had Collins and Williams assigned to help me pull the data and structure it. Now, I’ve worked with both before, separately. Collins is all speed, jumps right in, sometimes misses the details. Williams is the opposite, meticulous, plans everything down to the last comma, but can take forever to start.
My first thought was, okay, maybe their styles will balance out? Yeah, wishful thinking.
The Actual Grind
First thing I did was call a quick kickoff meeting. Laid out the goal, the deadline, who’s doing what. I figured, let Collins grab the raw data quickly, and Williams can organize and verify it. Seemed logical.
Day one was… something. Collins sent over a spreadsheet within like, two hours. Looked impressive at first glance. Loads of numbers. But then Williams chimed in on email, pointing out inconsistencies, missing sources, stuff formatted weirdly. He hadn’t even started his part, just critiquing Collins’s raw dump.
So, I stepped in. Had another quick chat, just the three of us. Tried to smooth things over. Told Collins, “Great speed, man, but let’s double-check the sources.” Told Williams, “Appreciate the keen eye, but let’s get the structure going while Collins refines the data.”
- I had Collins walk me through where he pulled the numbers.
- I asked Williams to draft an outline based on the requirements.
- Tried to set up check-ins twice a day. Just quick ones.
It sort of worked, but it felt like I was constantly mediating. Collins would get impatient waiting for Williams to approve the data. Williams would get frustrated by the rush and perceived sloppiness. I spent more time managing their workflow and personalities than actually working on the report’s content myself.
There was this one afternoon… Collins had dumped a new version. Williams immediately found three errors and wanted to schedule a full hour meeting to discuss the implications. Collins just wanted to fix them and move on. I ended up sitting them both down (virtually, thank goodness) and basically made them fix the issues together, line by line, right there. It was painful but necessary.
Figuring It Out (Sort Of)
Eventually, we got into a rhythm. It wasn’t smooth, but it was a rhythm. Collins would do a data pull. I’d give it a quick once-over myself before handing it to Williams. Williams would structure and verify, sending specific, actionable queries back if needed, rather than just broad complaints. I acted as the buffer and the final quality check.
We made the deadline. Just. The final report was okay, solid enough. But the process? Man, it was draining.
Looking back, trying to force their opposing styles together head-on wasn’t the best move. It needed a lot more hands-on management from my side than I initially expected. Learned a lot about managing different work styles, that’s for sure. Mostly learned I needed a coffee after every interaction involving both Collins and Williams together.
