At times a manager may have to deal with certain team member who doesn’t understand the sense of priority.
As a manager you ask that team member to do something and she doesn’t do that.
She does her own stuff as per her own understanding of work priority or rather the complete lack of it!
As a manager you ask her to discuss something and she doesn’t come for a discussion, and when she comes she is not fully prepared.
Managers hire members in the team for only one reason - the hired person needs to take care of something that is otherwise a headache for the manager.
The KRA for any manager is very simple - get things done.
Managers don’t work and are not supposed to work.
They need to get things done.
Simple.
So if a team member doesn’t understand the sense of priority that is nothing but a big source of headache for the manager.
When a manager assigns a task to a team member he expects her to complete it as per the stated or understood priority and update him on the progress and discuss with him the challenges, if any, in finishing the assigned task on time.
In any case, the manager would expect the team member to complete the work.
However, when the team member not only fails to finish the task, but also provides no updates and not even bothers to let the manager know that the work is not done, that would be a clear source of concern for any manager.
And when confronted and given the feedback, she reacts in a aggressive and immature manner.
She defends her actions and the fact that she was right and the manager was not.
She also tells the manager that “since you know how to do it, you should do the work she has been assigned and has not been able to complete”
She also reacts violently when assigned any additional work and is reluctant to do that.
She may out rightly refuse to do a work by saying “I will not do that work”.
When asked firmly to do it and discuss if needed, she says “we can discuss but I would still not do it”.
It appears she thinks she is the manager of her manager.
This might appear quite funny if one were to take it lightly but is a serious affair, a very serious one.
She forgets to realize that if you are not willing to work, why would the manager want you in his team?
This is a sign of lack of maturity and lack of understanding of the sense of priority.
For any manager such a conversation is highly concerning.
This is a clear sign of trouble for the manager.
And if the manager needs to follow-up and remind for a task to be done nothing could be worse.
The team member loses her credibility.
The manager also doesn’t get a sense of comfort and confidence on such a team member.
The impression the manager gets is, “she is not reliable and if I assign her something critical she might give headache”.
And headache after a task is not done or the work not finished or something fails to happen is the last thing any manager wants.
So what happens with such team member?
She can’t be assigned time-critical and important and urgent tasks.
Any manager in such a situation will simply pull her out of critical tasks expected from his team.
The worst consequence of such an action would mean that in the long run:
This impediment has to do with her attitude and approach.
The priority of the organization should and would decide the priority of the head of the organization.
The priority of the head of the organization should and would decide the priority of the head of different teams and departments.
The priority of the head of the team or department should and would decide the priority of the members of the concerned team or department.
If a team member doesn’t understand that, she doesn’t really understand how to work.
Such a team member must work with a clear understanding of priority.
She needs to pull up her socks and get her act together.
This is a clear sign of not only trouble but big time danger.
And any smart manager will not let such a situation continue unaddressed for long!
As a manager you ask that team member to do something and she doesn’t do that.
She does her own stuff as per her own understanding of work priority or rather the complete lack of it!
As a manager you ask her to discuss something and she doesn’t come for a discussion, and when she comes she is not fully prepared.
Managers hire members in the team for only one reason - the hired person needs to take care of something that is otherwise a headache for the manager.
The KRA for any manager is very simple - get things done.
Managers don’t work and are not supposed to work.
They need to get things done.
Simple.
So if a team member doesn’t understand the sense of priority that is nothing but a big source of headache for the manager.
When a manager assigns a task to a team member he expects her to complete it as per the stated or understood priority and update him on the progress and discuss with him the challenges, if any, in finishing the assigned task on time.
In any case, the manager would expect the team member to complete the work.
However, when the team member not only fails to finish the task, but also provides no updates and not even bothers to let the manager know that the work is not done, that would be a clear source of concern for any manager.
And when confronted and given the feedback, she reacts in a aggressive and immature manner.
She defends her actions and the fact that she was right and the manager was not.
She also tells the manager that “since you know how to do it, you should do the work she has been assigned and has not been able to complete”
She also reacts violently when assigned any additional work and is reluctant to do that.
She may out rightly refuse to do a work by saying “I will not do that work”.
When asked firmly to do it and discuss if needed, she says “we can discuss but I would still not do it”.
It appears she thinks she is the manager of her manager.
This might appear quite funny if one were to take it lightly but is a serious affair, a very serious one.
She forgets to realize that if you are not willing to work, why would the manager want you in his team?
This is a sign of lack of maturity and lack of understanding of the sense of priority.
For any manager such a conversation is highly concerning.
This is a clear sign of trouble for the manager.
And if the manager needs to follow-up and remind for a task to be done nothing could be worse.
The team member loses her credibility.
The manager also doesn’t get a sense of comfort and confidence on such a team member.
The impression the manager gets is, “she is not reliable and if I assign her something critical she might give headache”.
And headache after a task is not done or the work not finished or something fails to happen is the last thing any manager wants.
So what happens with such team member?
She can’t be assigned time-critical and important and urgent tasks.
Any manager in such a situation will simply pull her out of critical tasks expected from his team.
The worst consequence of such an action would mean that in the long run:
- Such a team member will not grow too much in her career.
- She can’t be promoted beyond a certain level.
This impediment has to do with her attitude and approach.
The priority of the organization should and would decide the priority of the head of the organization.
The priority of the head of the organization should and would decide the priority of the head of different teams and departments.
The priority of the head of the team or department should and would decide the priority of the members of the concerned team or department.
If a team member doesn’t understand that, she doesn’t really understand how to work.
Such a team member must work with a clear understanding of priority.
She needs to pull up her socks and get her act together.
This is a clear sign of not only trouble but big time danger.
And any smart manager will not let such a situation continue unaddressed for long!
