The dog ate this article. No honestly, I had it all written out, and Skippy just came and stole it off my desk and chomped it up. She did, she did! Pretty feeble, right? But every day, we hear equally feeble excuses from our employees. “I just have too heavy a work load”, “I though Joe was doing that”, “Sales didn’t get the figures to me,” “What project?”
What do you say when you hear those old favourite being trotted out. I’m willing to bet you say, as I used to, “OK, don’t worry.” Your staffer leaves the office, the monkey neatly passed from his back to yours. He doesn’t have to worry, but now you do. Enough of all this! Excuses are things which adults should never use – you are letting them get away with sloppiness, laziness and bad organisation if you carry on being so sympathetic.
I’m not saying that sometimes there are reasons – and I mean actual, unavoidable reasons- why things go off schedule. “My mom had a heart attack and I had to go to the hospital,” is a reason why a task couldn’t be completed. I know that you would be entirely sympathetic in this kind of instance, in fact, it is important that you acknowledge the life needs of the people you work with.
So how should you deal with those excuses? First of all, unpack what the lack of performance means to you and the team. “Because you are late with these figures, we aren’t going to be ready to give the CEO that presentation tomorrow, unless everyone works late tonight.” “Because you didn’t complete the report, this department has been made to look bad in the eyes of our most important client.” You have to carry the can, but, your staff need to know that they let you down. It’s a bit like when you were a kid, and you mom said, “I’m so disappointed in you.” That hurt worse than anything, right? So, you need to engender shame.
Next, look behind the excuse. Does Jane really have too much on her lap? Check her work load, and it might turn out to be true. Try checking everyone’s work load, maybe things have got out of balance in your department. Take some work from Jane and give it to Sam, and hey presto, the workflow may just get smoother.
It’s possible that the person who has let you down is missing some skills needed to complete the work. If so, and those if those skills will be needed in the future, make sure that the chance to learn the needed techniques and procedures is made available, and soon. Check out who else in your department or the wider company might need them too.
It can also be possible that the person who is making excuses has met a cooperation road block, and has been beating their head against a lack of team spirit elsewhere in the department or company. If that is the case, make sure they have some negotiating skills they can call on, and that they understand when it’s OK to get you or another senior person to intervene to get them the help they need.
Your new motto then – “No more excuses!”
