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For The Employer: How do You Spot and Confront a Procrastinating Employee?
How to spot:
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The employee is always saying that he or she is working on a project
but never gives you a true update or completion date.
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You notice that the employee is always rushing at the last minute.
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When work is completed, it looks rushed or is not up to the employee's capability.
What to do:
After observing and documenting a number of examples of poor work performance,
it is now time to confront the employee.
The first step is to call a private meeting in order to bring up your observations.
The second step is to ask the employee if he or she has also noticed the same patterns
that you have observed. Next listen to the employee's response for indications that the
employee is either accepting responsibility or is attempting to ignore, blame others,
or minimize their poor work performance. If the employee attempts to blame others or
the company, help them focus on what is in their control to change about themselves.
If the employee ignores or minimizes the problem, restate your observations and emphasize
the importance of change.
The third step is to provide the employee with literature about procrastination.
Call your Employee Assistance Program (EAP) and ask them to provide you with some appropriate
literature.
The fourth step is to schedule a follow up meeting in one week to find out what the employee
has learned from the literature, and what he or she plans to do to change.
If the employee voices other problems, besides procrastination, as the reason for
why their performance has declined, e.g., depression, anxiety, or family problems. Suggest
that the employee contact the company EAP to address those issues.
Finally, it is a good idea to end the meeting by saying something positive about the
employee's overall attitude, past performance, or bright future.
For the Employee:
Identifying and Taking Steps to Change Procrastination.
How to Identify:
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Do you set unrealistically high standards that make it difficult for
you to start a project?
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Do you prefer to develop ideas versus work on any of the ideas you have
developed?
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Do you sometimes avoid a task because you fear failure?
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Do you leave projects for the last minute hoping that time pressure will
motivate you?
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Do you avoid doing projects because you are angry that you need to do it?
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Do you take on so many projects that you cannot focus on what needs to be
done?
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Is it easy for you to avoid work when there is something more enjoyable to do?
Common reasons for procrastination:
Learn how to change your type of procrastination by clicking on the hyperlink.
Perfectionism: A common reasons for procrastinating is
perfectionism. Perfectionists avoid starting a task because they worry that they might fall short
of their own high standards. Perfectionists will become absorbed in the details,
attempting to control every aspect of the task and ignore moving a project
along until the very last minute. The perfectionist does not have to face their
fear of imperfection if the task does not get done.
Fantasizing: These individuals are better
at day dreaming than in dealing with reality. People who fantasize find
it difficult to turn their grandiose thinking into clear concrete plans for
action. They make bosses happy with their great and grand ideas, but later
make them frustrated with their lack of results.
Fear: This person actually procrastinates because
they fear doing the task or project at hand. The task has moved them
out of their comfort zone and the thought of doing it freezes them into
immobility. You see this form of procrastination occur when a person delays
making a phone call because he or she fears that the other party may not
like what they have to say.
Crisis Maker: These people believe that they
cannot get motivated until the very last minute. They are likely to make
other people mad because they end up manufacturing a needless crisis in order
to get the project finished. To start a task early just does not interest them.
Anger: The angry person resents having to do the
task in the first place; therefore, they do not do it because of spite. By not working
on the task they feel better than if they worked on it. If they do the
task because they have to, it is likely to be done wrong or incomplete.
Overdoers: The overdoer avoids what they need to do by
taking on other lessor important tasks or projects. In other words, they avoid the
task at hand by doing more tasks. Hence, their excuse for why they are late is
just having too many things to do.
Pleasure Seeker: This person's priority is
to seek positive over negatives at all times. They delay because there are
more fun things to do to fulfill their immediate gratifications than the
project you gave them. These people turn in projects that obviously
show that their heart is not in it.
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