Q: I work with some people who always seem to be trying to make things more complicated than they need to be. They suggest adding forms for people to fill out to do just about anything, and the documentation needs seem to outweigh the actual work. Before it gets out of hand, how can I help rein this in? I'm not the manager so don't have authority to just stop it.
Nitin, 36, research analyst
A: Consider the business need and potential underlying source of this as you plan your approach.
First, has your boss asked them to manage the business more closely and this is the approach they are trying?
If so, it will be counterproductive to challenge the goal. However, if you have more creative ways to accomplish the goal, say, using technology, this could help improve the proposed process.
Also, often when people set up a form, they over-engineer it. They may need just a few pieces of information, which would be easy to complete and would seem reasonable to the average user. But then they fall prey to the "good to know" syndrome, asking for a more burdensome level of information just in case it will be needed.
You could be the voice of reason, keeping the actual content of the information gathering tightly focused.
If your boss isn't behind it, that's another matter. Some people just really like control and these activities may be an expression of that. Similarly, if your organization is going through a lot of change, this may be unsettling them, driving a desire for an extra level of structure.