6 Steps for Dealing With a Lazy Co-Worker

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6 Steps for Dealing With a Lazy Co-Worker

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Don't enable a lazy co-worker by picking up his or her slack. Talk to the co-worker

directly, and bring up the issue with your manager.

If you’ve ever had a co-worker who spends the day playing on Facebook, shopping online or

otherwise goofing off while work goes undone, you know the extreme frustration of working

with someone who doesn’t pull his or her weight. That’s doubly true if you end up picking up

some of that person's work on top of your own.

Here are six steps for dealing with lazy co-workers without resorting to shouting, dirty

looks or locking them out of the office:

1. Figure out how the laziness is impacting your work. This is the most important thing to

keep in the forefront of your mind when dealing with a lazy coworker. It’s easy to simply

get sucked into a vortex of frustration, in which you’re so irritated by the person’s

laziness that you lose clarity about how it impacts you, if at all. But being clear about

the impact on you – versus what’s unfair or frustrating but doesn’t actually impact you – is

key to being able to address it effectively. For instance, maybe you end up needing to pick

up your co-worker’s slack, which means you need to put in extra hours to complete your work

or can’t give your own clients the attention you’d like. Or maybe you end up needing to

spend time redoing your co-worker’s work, because it’s never done carefully the first time.

If your co-worker’s work habits are indeed affecting your own work, then move on to steps

two and three. If it’s not impacting your work, skip those and move straight to step four.

2. Talk to your co-worker directly. Some co-workers are so lazy and unmotivated that talking

to them won’t make any difference, because they simply won’t care. However, in other

circumstances, addressing the situation forthrightly can alter the person’s behavior. If you

think your co-worker might not realize the impact his or her laziness is having on you, or

if you think she can be shamed into pulling her own weight if she’s called out on her

behavior, consider having a direct conversation. For example, you might say something like:

“Jane, I’ve been having to redo your account entries, because so many of them are

incomplete. It’s taking me a lot of time to redo them, so can you be careful to fill out

every field going forward?”

3. Talk to your manager. If the problem is impacting your work, it’s appropriate to bring

your manager into the loop. In fact, you can handle it just like you would handle any other

workload issue. For example, you could say: “I’m spending significant amounts of time

talking to Jane’s clients when they can’t reach her and finishing up her reports when she

leaves for the day without completing them. It’s causing me to have to push off priorities

like A and B, and I don’t have as much time to spend with my own clients as a result.”

4. Don’t enable the lazy co-worker by stepping in to complete his or her work or covering

for him or her. If you’re a conscientious worker, you might find it hard to resist doing

this. However, if you take up your co-worker’s slack, you’ll make it easier for the problem

to fly under the radar. Instead, politely decline to help, using phrases like: “I’m sorry,

but I’m slammed with deadlines” or: “I wish I could help, but I’ve got my hands full.” By

declining to step in and save your co-worker, you’ll make it easier for your manager to spot

what’s going on.

5. Remember that you don’t know what’s happening behind the scenes. While it’s easy to

assume that nothing is being done about your lazy co-worker, you’re unlikely to know if

something is being done. Managers don’t typically broadcast disciplinary actions or coaching

to other people, and most employees don’t go around bragging that they were just warned

their job is in jeopardy if they don’t shape up. So while it’s possible that nothing is

being done, it’s important to remember that that’s not information you’d likely be privy to.

6. Don’t let it affect your attitude. Don’t let your co-worker’s attitude or work habits

become contagious! While it might be unfair that he or she is putting in less effort than

you, remember that this person is building a terrible reputation, while you’re presumably

creating a strong one. That means you’re creating professional options for yourself while

that person is narrowing his or hers.

http://money.usnews.com/money/blogs/outside-voices-careers/2014/10/06/6-steps-for-dealing-wi

th-a-lazy-co-worker

Finally, If everyone in your job location are all slackers, Be certain to be

VERY FAR AWAY before you try this FINAL SOLUTION: :P

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