What do you do when you have an employee/staff member or a direct report who won’t do the work?
Quite often they might start with enthusiasm and agreement to complete a given task, but for some reason fail to deliver – or may experience few or poor results.
This is frustrating for you and for them. To the point where you become totally frustrated and begin doubting your own management abilities. This is not helpful to either the manager or the direct report.
You need to address this in a 1 to 1 meeting.
Here are five steps to help you through this situation if it is a recurring one – or even if it’s not.
1. Schedule a 1 on 1 meeting
These meetings are there to provide a forum to put things on the table and talk about them rationally. If the meetings are normally fortnightly and this issue has come up in between, address it sooner rather than later. The sooner you have the conversation, the better it will be for both. Issues such as this create negative energy that affects both parties – one is usually frustrated and the other guilty or angry – so it’s critical that you step up and take the lead to get the situation resolved.
2. Acknowledge that there is an issue that is giving you some concern (i.e. commitments being made to deliver are constantly being broken). Make sure that your understanding was correct and that you both had the same understanding. Ask them what got in the way or prevented them from doing what was promised. If they dissemble or move towards blame of someone or something else, challenge that and ask what responsibility they had in ensuring that the task was delivered on time.
3. Clarify the impact of the task not being done on time
What impact does it have on the direct report themselves? What is the impact on other team members and their manager? What is the impact to the client? What is the impact to the business?
4. What difference would timely completion of the task make to them? The team? The client? the business?
Once you have agreed that it is important and worth doing properly, ask ..
5. Take action. How do they intend to address the situation? What is the action they will take and by when? Repeat the action and elicit an actual time/date. Write it down on the action section of the 1 on 1 meeting form, also in your diary and ask them to write it down also.
You can also ask: How will I know when it is done?
Note 1: It is also important that you express your support. Let them know you are there to help them through these challenges and that part of your role as a leader and manager is to help them be the best they can be. Sometimes, just knowing that there is someone who notices them and cares is all they need to get back on track.
Note 2: Be careful not to let the session turn into another round of accepting excuses and missed goals. Ask them to commit to a revised set of goals and action steps and then expect them to stick to them.
Remember – this is about helping them be the best they can be. Because when you have that, you have a sound business and you are really good with management and leadership skills.
Until next time,
