My company has quite a few people who are a bit too "precious", and require lots of molly coddling to complete their basic duties. In a company of only 55 staff this makes things a touch difficult. Quite frankly I'm tired of wasting the time and emotional energy in pandering to this minority of slackers, and unfortunately Management is focussed on getting the quick buck on a shoestring budget - so there's no performance management. Any suggestions on how to work with these people would be gratefully received!! Saving Changes...
Certainly an interesting discussion, and I agree that I should not do their work for them; and I don't. Re your Option 1: Their motivation is recognition, and feeling important. That's well and good, and that's what I've been giving them. But it takes a lot of pandering, hoop jumping and particularly TIME that I can't afford. Re Option 2, I don't think that would work in this situation. These staff have had an easy ride for so long that to take this approach would simply result in tools down. As I have no line management responsibilities (and their own various managers have placed it in the too hard basket) I'm kind of stuck, but would like to avoid this constant drain on my time. Saving Changes...
Without a detailed knowledge of your setting, I agree with your analysis. The options in the earlier discussion thread were placed to promoke some discussion around quite disparate strategies.
I guess you aren't left with too many strategies for your scenario: (Option 1) Do nothing and muddle through - by the sound of it, that's what you want to move away from. (Option 2) Manage through clearly defined short term goals and work assignments. Time consuming on you in terms of developing, communicating and following up on each assignment. (Option 3) Form work groups with reliable leaders and delegate results management through the groups. Adds a layer to the chain, is dependent on the existence and willingness of suitable group leaders, and creates another potential failure point. (Option 4) Fire the lot of them and start again or outsource. .... Interesting but just a little risky.
What do you think are the options?
Regards
David Hudson
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1 reply by Yazmin Barajas
Aug 24, 2017 11:52 PM
Yazmin Barajas
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As for my opinion, I somewhat agree to David Hudson on this one especially to his Option #4. It is somewhat not good but if your staff is not performing well i think you should consider outsourcing or getting a remote staff just for the tasks.But think and plan first before you do it because outsourcing is not that easy. You need to know what firm or outsourcing company is right for you. Regards, Yazmin Barajas, BPO Marketing Offshore Business Processing Remote Staff Outsourcing
In my experience there are several things you can do. When faced with a team that consistently underperforms I use a process for exposing incompetence that I think you'll like:
1. Set the project goals, estimates, and capabilities as a team. Get people to commit openly to how good they are or aren't. Most people will only tell you how good they are.
2. Create a work break down that you deliver to the team that shows the commitments you got in the group setting.
3. Get every team member to verbally and in e-mail commit to the schedule.
4. Communicate to upper management every risky commitment you see. Report the risk as "team member inability."
5. Build a risk factor into your project schedule that accounts for the risky estimates and document the "who" in the risk assessment.
6. Get ready for all the pissed off people. Simply remind them that you are only reporting your concerns and that you'll actually be reporting actuals so we can see if these things come true or not.
7. Finish by reporting progress against the schedule each week and reporting actuals vs estimates for every team member. Be sure that your data shows how these team members are doing compared to their peers and that the actualls are showing the risks you identified at the beginning.
Now one thing that may cause a problem is that if everyone actually delivers according the plan. Oh right that's your goal anyway.
If you would like some more details on this let me know.
Andrew CotterellTransformation Manager| World Intellectual Property OrganisationGeneva, Switzerland
I entirely concur with Mr Kester. I find that people find the pressure of their own committed estimates much more compelling than any threat or promise you might come up with. This approach also avoids conflict by allowing you to play "facilitator" rather than "boss". I always allow team members to estimate their own tasks (I even load a bit of contingency on to show how flexible I am) and then routinely ask them (face-to-face; very important) what they've been doing, how much they've completed and how much is outstanding. I don't criticise or make exclamations during this; I just calmly take notes and follow-up, where necessary, by asking for a revised completion date. A number of receipients of this approach have described it as "high pressure" even though I'm very gentle through the whole thing. Saving Changes...
You wrote: A number of receipients of this approach have described it as "high pressure" even though I'm very gentle through the whole thing.
I have heard that same comment about me. :) Saving Changes...
Bipin Lekshmanan PMPProject Manager| Wipro TechnologiesEdison, Nj, United States
Jim- May be, you should find out the real reason behind the team dynamics that you are observing to really resolve it. For a 55 member team, even if you replace a few guys, the team culture can gradually creep into the new recruits, too. The grape vine can usually tell you dimensions that you weren't aware of before. Saving Changes...
Mark Price PerryBusiness Driven PMO Evangelist| BOT InternationalOrlando, Fl, United States
Dear Jim,
Great post and replies - all of them. I especially like Mr. Kester's March 31st post. Some call it the "quiet professional" approach and it is a tremendously useful situational leadership skill to draw upon, especially in large organizations.
You mentioned that your organization is a 55 person company and management is focused on "getting the quick buck on a shoestring budget." I might be wrong in the case of your company, but typically in small firms the co-founders and management team will rarely have the time to spend on "performance management" due to other priorities such as raising the next round of financing, making the quarterly numbers, and in some cases, simply making payroll.
But, in my experience, small companies have a way of "arriving" at what needs to be done and then quickly doing it in a way that would never work in a big company. For example, if I were the owner or one of the principals of your firm, I would be delighted to have someone within the company bring a much needed improvement idea to my attention. Especially, if that person can make it happen.
Years ago, I was in a similar situation, not the slacker, but in your shoes! Since I have rarely had success bringing things to management's attention through the formal protocols, I had to find another way. And doing nothing was not an option. So, I told the President of the company who also was the founder of the company that I wanted to buy him a drink (a real drink, at a bar, outside of work) and discuss a business problem that the company was having, in my opinion, and present a solution to the problem. When the waitress brought us our drinks I paid in cash, rather than run a tab which I new the President would insist upon picking up, and then I looked the President in the eye and said, "I want to talk business with you. Are you ready?" With that, the President laughed as he answered back, "Let's talk!"
Jim, the words I used were very much like your fine post and I was surprised at what came next. The President completely agreed with everything I presented and commented that he too was tired of the slackers and of the situation. He also mentioned that this very topic had been discussed amongst the small management team and that the timing was now much better for ideas and action. He insisted that we have a few more drinks and continue the dialog. I could go on, but the point is I would have never gotten that much of the President's time if we had met during his all to busy business day. And without the time and attention, if rushed my comments could have easily been perceived the wrong way or brushed off. And without management being aware of, involved in, and supportive of my efforts, I am sure that whatever I would have tried with the "slackers" would end up being like "trying to teach a pig to sing".
And, if your discussions with the top guy goes nowhere, then you know it's time to immediately start looking for a new job and a better place for you to give your value. Good luck..!
Bipin Lekshmanan PMPProject Manager| Wipro TechnologiesEdison, Nj, United States
A daring response! thanks. Saving Changes...
Anonymous
In my experience on handling resources assigned to project, it has always been good to give responsibility to resources and feel them accountable. I have always believed not to harass the resources daily on the status of tasks but rather set the expectations correct and have a good rapport. I feel they seem to be more involved into project and meet the deliverables once they feel they are an important part and involved in important discussions and kept informed. I have come across resources who did not have a favorable attitude for project, but then working on few things and understanding the style of their work and giving them the satisfaction in that direction and motivation, I found the person improving and finally doing the work properly. I think it comes down to the fact that you have to work in different style with different people. But finally if the person has not improved and its affecting the project even after consistent efforts, I think the person has to be moved to something which suits him and he enjoys and can perform or else asked to be moved out... Saving Changes...
