A Good Boss Is Never Bossy, Even With Bad Employees We understand the frustration of dealing with employees who fail to submit assignments, don’t help in boosting the morale of the team, slack off or do not have any interest in the job except their paychecks. Repeated warnings for on time delivery of assignments doesn’t help but increase their exasperation and anger. However, we have also seen managers who shout at their team members, but miserably lack the skills to be a better leader. So, who’s right? Instead of incessantly arguing to prove your point, changing your approach towards the problem might be helpful to ensure a good workplace environment. Remember there are both sides to a story. You must ask yourself, do your juniors conform and obey you out of love and respect or they are just afraid of losing their job? Are you falling short or is the person on the other side incompetent? The trick is to think both and think none together.
How to deal with the fact that your employees do not meet deadlines Getting a blank stare in reply is extremely frustrating whenever you ask about the pending assignments. It is natural to feel he/she is deliberately not delivering the projects on time, even after extending the deadlines. However, there is another logic to this whole ordeal of thoughts. ✓ Consider how much help you have extended to your employees to communicate the work details. ✓ Are you having open conversations with your employees about the confusions and difficulties they might be facing?
✓ Check if you have specifically mentioned when you are expecting the assignment to be delivered. We have often seen miscommunications damaging the manager-employee relationships. Read a lot on employee motivation, qualities of leadership and all such academic writing that help to broaden your mind and think out of the box.
What To Do If You Cannot Count On You Employee Does your employee come late for a meeting in which he/she promised to be on time? Is he/she constantly rude to others and gives excuses for bad behaviour? Before passing any judgement, ask these questions to yourself. ✓ Have you asked them whether they are facing any problem? ✓ Have you dealt with this issue previously? ✓ Is it possible that his problems are genuine and he is not making up excuses for being late? Your employee might have a child to look after. Maybe he/she lives far from the office and faces transport problems every day. You can arrange for a carpool to pick them up when needed. Communicate with them to find a reasonable way to deal with these problems. Let them know your expectations before the deadline or a week before the vital meeting. If you have addressed these issues already then the spotlight turns back to your employees.
Efficient handling of employee motivation and pending assignments will help regarding all future projects. Encourage your employees by giving them useful feedback and
constructive criticism. Stay updated on their well-being and lend an ear to understand the problems they might be facing.