Bad Apple Or Just Unmotivated Apple?
salcorp says : I need an opinion from you guys.
Recently I had to squeeze one of my employees for pure slacking at work.
The thing is that he was a big underdog a couple of months ago due to his upgrade in technology. Basically, nobody believed he could step up to the plate on new tech we are using right now. Well, he did, and with honors.
But now he is clearly slacking, handing work late, bypassing some of our quality standards, etc...
Now I know he´s a good guy and that he is really dedicated to what he does, but that guy seams to have died on me. Right in end of my project.
I´m trying to move him to another project but word has gone out and now none of the other PMs wants him. And my boss is pressuring me to fire him. But I know the guy is good... I just don´t know what to do to motivate him.
Any suggestions?
ross_valusoft says :
salcorp>I need an opinion from you guys.
Recently I had to squeeze one of my employees for pure slacking at work.
The thing is that he was a big underdog a couple of months ago due to his upgrade in technology. Basically, nobody believed he could step up to the plate on new tech we are using right now. Well, he did, and with honors.
But now he is clearly slacking, handing work late, bypassing some of our quality standards, etc...
Now I know he´s a good guy and that he is really dedicated to what he does, but that guy seams to have died on me. Right in end of my project.
I´m trying to move him to another project but word has gone out and now none of the other PMs wants him. And my boss is pressuring me to fire him. But I know the guy is good... I just don´t know what to do to motivate him.
Any suggestions?
Yuri,
This can be a hard one.
You have obligations to the project (bosses, yourself, the other members of the team...and your unmotivated member). Does he know that no one else wants him and that he is in line for being fired? Maybe he is having problems at home. Is he the type that you could go outside with for a coffee and talk "off the record" with? Maybe he feels that he is not valued....there can be many reasons. But whatever they are, you as PM needs to manage the problem as a project problem.
I wish you the best...people problems have always been the hardest to handle in my experience.
Bernard says : You need to talk to him and outline your concerns and ask him if there is a problem and if he can offer a solution. If your meeting is unproductive, you will need to protect yourself and your projects by letting him go. Wasted potential will not suffice.
newbie says :
salcorp>I need an opinion from you guys.
Recently I had to squeeze one of my employees for pure slacking at work.
The thing is that he was a big underdog a couple of months ago due to his upgrade in technology. Basically, nobody believed he could step up to the plate on new tech we are using right now. Well, he did, and with honors.
But now he is clearly slacking, handing work late, bypassing some of our quality standards, etc...
Now I know he´s a good guy and that he is really dedicated to what he does, but that guy seams to have died on me. Right in end of my project.
I´m trying to move him to another project but word has gone out and now none of the other PMs wants him. And my boss is pressuring me to fire him. But I know the guy is good... I just don´t know what to do to motivate him.
Any suggestions?
He sounds like me at the moment. I am looking for a new job because the boss does not recognise my good work...he just bitches and moans.
newbie
salcorp says : Thanks guys.
I actually have a bit of opening to talk to him "off the record". After all he invited me to his son´s bar mitzav and at the time I wasn´t his PM yet.
I´ll probably go get a coffee with him and talk it over. I really think he´s having troubles at home.
ross_valusoft says :
salcorp>Thanks guys.
I actually have a bit of opening to talk to him "off the record". After all he invited me to his son´s bar mitzav and at the time I wasn´t his PM yet.
I´ll probably go get a coffee with him and talk it over. I really think he´s having troubles at home.
Let us know how it turns out. Although none of us should bring "home problems" to work it is inevitable that they will have an effect on our output...we are made of flesh and bones and not robot parts.
salcorp says : Problem solved...
His family structure was shook up because his baby brother broke off a 10-year marriage with 2 baby kids and moved in with him, with the kids.... Lack of grandparents to help has really taken a beating at him.
The guy said he wasn´t even getting decent 5 hours of sleep a day. I got him a couple of days off to settle things at home and we´re arranging partial daycare for the kids here at the company.
The thing is he was embarrassed of telling these things to anyone. I guess everybody here understood what he was going through.
Hope everything works out now.
ross_valusoft says :
salcorp>Problem solved...
His family structure was shook up because his baby brother broke off a 10-year marriage with 2 baby kids and moved in with him, with the kids.... Lack of grandparents to help has really taken a beating at him.
The guy said he wasn´t even getting decent 5 hours of sleep a day. I got him a couple of days off to settle things at home and we´re arranging partial daycare for the kids here at the company.
The thing is he was embarrassed of telling these things to anyone. I guess everybody here understood what he was going through.
Hope everything works out now.
Bad apple, unmotivated or just plain distressed and distracted.
Very happy to hear that your approach has borne fruit and that a solution is being implemented.
Regards,
newbie says :
salcorp>Problem solved...
His family structure was shook up because his baby brother broke off a 10-year marriage with 2 baby kids and moved in with him, with the kids.... Lack of grandparents to help has really taken a beating at him.
The guy said he wasn´t even getting decent 5 hours of sleep a day. I got him a couple of days off to settle things at home and we´re arranging partial daycare for the kids here at the company.
The thing is he was embarrassed of telling these things to anyone. I guess everybody here understood what he was going through.
Hope everything works out now.
wish my boss would have coffee with some of us...and listen.
newbie
