Month: May 2021

Dear Dan: I Never Do Enough

Dear Dan,

I am struggling at the moment with one team member. It feels like I do so much for her and it’s never enough.

I provided so much positive feedback and when I need to give corrective feedback, she can’t handle it and feels criticized. She is disorganized, constantly late, and unprepared. She is also causing other team members frustration. I experience her as very needy and manipulative.

Sincerely,

Never Enough

Dear Never Enough,

This person is doing more damage than you might imagine. She’s holding your team back, wasting your time, and drains everyone’s energy. You have three options.

#1. Reassign her to a job she is capable of doing.

#2. Redesign her current job so she can succeed.

#3. Manager her out with kindness.

Option #3 seems like the only viable choice. This is the first time in a Dear Dan post I have suggested termination. Typically I accept the challenge of designing creative options for readers to consider. In this case, I suggest you begin the termination process.

If I may suggest an awkward idea. Persistent poor performance is a management problem, not an employee problem. Yes, you’ve tried to make a difference for this person, but admit it. It hasn’t work.

Stop wasting time, energy, and resources doing things that aren’t working. Establish consequences for failure that include termination.

Trying to control things you can’t control adds heat to frustration. Accept that you can’t force this person to step up. Do your best to lower emotional frustration. It’s harming you and it’s not helping your poor performer.

Ruinous compassion harms people and organizations.

Whatever you do, keep the best interest of your employee, team, and organization in mind. It’s not in the best interest of your employee to tolerate poor performance.

You have my best,

Dan

What suggestions do you have for Never Enough?

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Before the Covid 19 pandemic, 17 percent of U.S. employees worked from home 5 days or more per week. That increased 44 percent during the pandemic. Here’s a fact:

     Remote work, part-time or full-time, is here to stay. And you’ll likely be doing it soon

     if not already and those you work with and lead need to know how to do it well.

Have you considered what it will take to succeed with that new challenge? Have you thought about the differences between working in an office space to working at home? Most importantly, have you developed a process that enables you to be productive and successful working remotely? Or, if you’re a manager, have you taught your team those skills?

Here are seven simple but effective keys to help:

1. If you can’t change where you work, change your attitude about it. When we are in a situation we can change, the way to make the most of it is to change our attitude. You don’t need to deny it if you don’t like remote work, but find the positive aspects to focus on until your situation changes. Whining never helps.

2.  Develop a work day routine. Your old workspace, start and end times, provided a routine for your professional life. When at home you need to develop a routine to support your productivity. Get dressed like you would at an office or worksite even if you’re not going to leave your home. Track your efforts and identify projects and milestones. Importantly, identify your workday’s end so it doesn’t keep expanding and enveloping personal time.

3. Use results rather than input to evaluate your success. In the past our activities at work filled each day. As long as we were busy, we felt productive. Remote work isn’t about how much time you spend, but how many results you produce. You may find that with fewer office type distractions, you may be able to work fewer hours and get as much or more done.

4. Clarify expectations. Your employer may well have different expectations of you as a remote worker. If they haven’t been specific about what they expect, inquire so that you know.

5. Model your remote work after how you work at the office. To the degree that you can, use the same processes and protocols. Don’t cut corners because your remote workspace doesn’t feel traditional. 

6. Stay connected as well or better than before. This doesn’t necessarily mean lots more time on the phone or in Zoom meetings. It is about being strategic and caring to maintain important relationships that might be affected since you’re not sharing space with those people.

7. Go outside. E.O. Wilson said it well: Just being surrounded by bountiful nature, rejuvenates and inspires us. The nature outside your home might be more or less bountiful, but getting out of the house periodically for a short walk will help.

The more tools you have in your toolbox, the…

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