Procrastination zaps employee motivation when it interrupts workflow. One characteristic of motivated employees is their ability to move from one task to another with ease and without long delays or "stall-time" between tasks. Employees who easily move from task to task are known as having "flow."
Procrastination stops employees from moving from task to task and therefore it stops their flow. Procrastination undermines flow because it causes the employee to stall between tasks in order to focus on their negative emotions.
Managers and supervisors can help employees overcome their procrastination stalls. In order to help employees, it is important that supervisors understand that procrastination is a behavior that is caused by negative feelings and negative thoughts. The negative emotions that lead to procrastination include fear, anger, and hopelessness. The negative thoughts that lead to procrastination include perfectionist thinking, last-minute-crisis thinking, and denial thinking.
A supervisor, who notices that an employee is constantly late with his or her tasks, should check to see if the employee is procrastinating. Simply ask the employee if he or she sometimes postpones starting their projects or tasks, until it is too late to complete the type of high quality work that is expected within the organization. Some employees will have logical excuses for being late, e.g., they depend on other employees to get their work done or they were out ill. However, unless the employee can provide a logical explanation, it is fairly safe to suspect that procrastination is the cause.
Once the employee admits that procrastination is the cause or part of the cause of their poor work performance, a supervisor's next step is to discover the negative feeling and/or thought causing procrastination to develop and hinder the employee's workflow.
Procrastination can be caused by negative feelings:
1.) Fear: An employee fears that a negative outcome will occur if they engage in a task; therefore, the employee avoids engaging in the task. Since most fear is unfounded and irrational, a manager can help reassure the employee that they will not be blamed for the negative outcome that he or she is worrying about.
2.) Anger: An employee is resentful that he or she was given the task or project to complete; therefore, he or she rebels by delaying the task. In this situation, the supervisor should provide the employee with a choice in how they complete the task or project; thereby, reducing the amount of rebellion.
3.) Hopelessness: An employee is hopeless when they feel they are in a lose-lose situation. Here the employee may feel that they will lose if they complete the task, and they will lose if they do not complete the task or project. This employee is truly stuck between no two good options. Supervisors can help employees by coaching them on the best alternatives, and what future wins may occur down the road for the employee.
Procrastination can be caused by negative thoughts:
1.) Perfectionist Thinking: This employee's thinking tells him or her that the project or task he or she is completing must be absolutely perfect or the conditions must be perfect before the task or project can be completed perfectly. A supervisor can help an employee with this type of procrastination by coaching an employee about the balance between efficiency and quality. Also, that high quality work does not mean the work must be completely free of minuet errors.
2.) Last-minute-crisis Thinking: These employees believe that they work best under crisis; therefore, they delay projects or task in order to perform under pressure. This thinking may work well for some, but if the employee works in a team-it will drive their teammates crazy. A supervisor can help this employee by coaching him or her that last-minute-crisis thinking creates crisis for their coworkers even if it makes them productive at the last minute.
3.) Denial Thinking: These employees believe that they do not really need to complete the task or project given to them in the allotted time. Perhaps this employee is so bogged down in other work that they cannot think about another task until they are more caught up. A supervisor can help employees procrastinating due to denial by offering time management training.
Read more about procrastination and see a list of excellent books on the topic at: Procrastination in the Workplace.
Happy Working,
Gary Vikesland, MA LP CEAP
Employer-Employee.com
Showing posts with label แรงงาน. Show all posts
Showing posts with label แรงงาน. Show all posts
Monday, August 6, 2007
Don't Praise Employees...Praise Their Work or Abilities
"I don't get it! If I tell an employee how well he did a certain work task, did I not just praise the employee?" No, what you did was praise the work done by the employee.
"What's the difference?"
When you praise an employee and not the work you are communicating to the employee that you value him or her as a person, instead of saying that you value a particular skill he or she possesses or the amount of hard work it took to get a certain job done. For example, Debbie is a salesperson who just signed up a new customer for your company. Now you have a choice, you can either tell Debbie that she is a great and terrific person, or you can tell Debbie that you appreciate all the hard work she did in order to sign-up the new customer.
"I still don't get it!"
When you praise Debbie as a person, you tell Debbie that she is a great person in all aspects of her work. She is great in sales, she is great at how she gets along with coworkers, and she is great in how she completes all the detailed paperwork that you require etc...etc... However, when you praise the work Debbie just did to secure a new customer, you praise Debbie on only one of her job duties, i.e., sales.
"Okay, I get the difference, but what's the big deal?"
A supervisor's job duties include being able to motivate and discipline employees. Overall, it is much easier to motivate an employee than to successfully discipline an employee. For instance, lets go back to the example of Debbie. In reality Debbie is really a mediocre salesperson who not only has poor sales numbers each month, but also comes to work late and tends to take long lunch breaks. Debbie's coworkers constantly complain about her lateness and are starting to wonder if you are favoring her over them. You see potential in Debbie to become a successful salesperson, but you know that unless she disciplines herself more she will only become a company liability.
What do you think will be easier? To talk with Debbie about her performance problems after you just indicated that she is a great and terrific person or after you just praised her work in obtaining a new customer. Not sure? Let's review the two options you could take with Debbie.
Option #1
As Debbie's supervisor, you told Debbie that she was a great and terrific person on Monday, and on Thursday you tell her that she must start to take shorter lunch breaks and come to work on time. Now what do you think Debbie's reaction will be? Most likely she will be completely dismayed and confounded about why you told her on Monday that she was terrific, and in a matter of few days, she is now a terrible person for coming to work late and taking too long at lunch. "Don't great and terrific employees get a few perks," says Debbie? Debbie is also likely to think that you are just another crazy boss from hell. After your unsuccessful discussion with Debbie, she becomes unmotivated, does not bring in another new customer for weeks, and calls in sick three days in a row. Eventually, she takes a job with another company after she has used up all her sick leave and vacation time.
Option #2
As Debbie's supervisor, you told Debbie on Monday that you saw how her persistence and sales skills successfully created a new customer for the company. On Thursday, you tell Debbie that even though she demonstrated high quality skills on Monday, she still has much to learn about how to use those skills consistently to bring up her sales numbers. You inform her that on Monday you saw the salesperson that she has the potential to become. Next, you tell Debbie that in order for her to develop her potential, she will need to make it to work on time and also to take the same amount of time on her lunch breaks as her coworkers. You tell Debbie that a successful employee not only has good sales numbers, but a successful employee is also a good team player. Lastly, you indicate that you are only giving a verbal warning at this time, and hope that she can use the same skills that allowed her to bring in a new customer account, to help herself come to work and return from lunch on time. Debbie accepts your statements and decides that she will work harder to come to work on time, take shorter lunch breaks, and improve her sales numbers.
In sum, it is best to praise an employee for either their hard work or a particular skill that led to a successful work outcome. Praising the employee for hard work or a particular skill, allows you to later discipline or point out areas of needed improvement without having the employee think you dislike them, as happens when you praise the person.
Happy Working,
Gary Vikesland, MA LP CEAP
Employer-Employee.com
"What's the difference?"
When you praise an employee and not the work you are communicating to the employee that you value him or her as a person, instead of saying that you value a particular skill he or she possesses or the amount of hard work it took to get a certain job done. For example, Debbie is a salesperson who just signed up a new customer for your company. Now you have a choice, you can either tell Debbie that she is a great and terrific person, or you can tell Debbie that you appreciate all the hard work she did in order to sign-up the new customer.
"I still don't get it!"
When you praise Debbie as a person, you tell Debbie that she is a great person in all aspects of her work. She is great in sales, she is great at how she gets along with coworkers, and she is great in how she completes all the detailed paperwork that you require etc...etc... However, when you praise the work Debbie just did to secure a new customer, you praise Debbie on only one of her job duties, i.e., sales.
"Okay, I get the difference, but what's the big deal?"
A supervisor's job duties include being able to motivate and discipline employees. Overall, it is much easier to motivate an employee than to successfully discipline an employee. For instance, lets go back to the example of Debbie. In reality Debbie is really a mediocre salesperson who not only has poor sales numbers each month, but also comes to work late and tends to take long lunch breaks. Debbie's coworkers constantly complain about her lateness and are starting to wonder if you are favoring her over them. You see potential in Debbie to become a successful salesperson, but you know that unless she disciplines herself more she will only become a company liability.
What do you think will be easier? To talk with Debbie about her performance problems after you just indicated that she is a great and terrific person or after you just praised her work in obtaining a new customer. Not sure? Let's review the two options you could take with Debbie.
Option #1
As Debbie's supervisor, you told Debbie that she was a great and terrific person on Monday, and on Thursday you tell her that she must start to take shorter lunch breaks and come to work on time. Now what do you think Debbie's reaction will be? Most likely she will be completely dismayed and confounded about why you told her on Monday that she was terrific, and in a matter of few days, she is now a terrible person for coming to work late and taking too long at lunch. "Don't great and terrific employees get a few perks," says Debbie? Debbie is also likely to think that you are just another crazy boss from hell. After your unsuccessful discussion with Debbie, she becomes unmotivated, does not bring in another new customer for weeks, and calls in sick three days in a row. Eventually, she takes a job with another company after she has used up all her sick leave and vacation time.
Option #2
As Debbie's supervisor, you told Debbie on Monday that you saw how her persistence and sales skills successfully created a new customer for the company. On Thursday, you tell Debbie that even though she demonstrated high quality skills on Monday, she still has much to learn about how to use those skills consistently to bring up her sales numbers. You inform her that on Monday you saw the salesperson that she has the potential to become. Next, you tell Debbie that in order for her to develop her potential, she will need to make it to work on time and also to take the same amount of time on her lunch breaks as her coworkers. You tell Debbie that a successful employee not only has good sales numbers, but a successful employee is also a good team player. Lastly, you indicate that you are only giving a verbal warning at this time, and hope that she can use the same skills that allowed her to bring in a new customer account, to help herself come to work and return from lunch on time. Debbie accepts your statements and decides that she will work harder to come to work on time, take shorter lunch breaks, and improve her sales numbers.
In sum, it is best to praise an employee for either their hard work or a particular skill that led to a successful work outcome. Praising the employee for hard work or a particular skill, allows you to later discipline or point out areas of needed improvement without having the employee think you dislike them, as happens when you praise the person.
Happy Working,
Gary Vikesland, MA LP CEAP
Employer-Employee.com
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