How to Deal with People Who are Always Late
Mark Wager is one of the world’s top leadership experts. He will be visiting Fiji in April and June. If you would like him to train your managers he can be contacted at Mark@ALI.org.nz
Aproblem that leaders most commonly face is “I have someone who always come in late”.
In this weeks article I want to share some techniques that will help you deal with anyone who is struggling with timekeeping.
Talk to people, don’t send an email
The most common mistake I see leaders make is that they don’t have the conversation with the individual involved.
Instead they send an email reminder to everyone, they see someone being late and in the wider scope of things it doesn’t seem a big deal and they are right it may not be a big deal.
But if no conversation takes place and the issue continues then suddenly the leader needs to have a much more serious conversation than they would have had to previously.
Sending emails are not effective, people especially in busy workplaces just don’t have time to read all the messages waiting for them or if they do then the message can easily be misunderstood because emails do not contain the tone that can be conveyed in a conversation between two people.
It’s not conflict it’s clarification
It can be difficult approaching someone to have a conversation about something they are not doing well but don’t fall into the trap of believing that this is a conflict situation because it’s not conflict it’s clarification.
A conflict situation is when two or more people want different things, but a talk about timekeeping isn’t that, it’s about clarifying expectations and nothing else.
If you falsely believe these conversations are conflict then you are unlikely to have these conversations or postpone them until the issue gets out of hand.
Talk to people and if you know what to say these conversations should only take a few minutes as long as you follow certain simple steps.
Be specific not judgemental
The conversation about timekeeping will be simple if you follow these steps.
The first step is to be specific about the issue and never judgemental. This means talk about the times and dates a person is coming in late instead of talking about what the impression that lateness gives about that person.
Don’t say “I want to talk to you about your professionalism?” Or “I think you are being lazy.”
People can argue about a judgement, but it’s much more difficult to argue about facts, so say “last week you came in 30 minutes late on three days.”
Explain the impact
People are more likely to change their behaviour if they are aware of the impact of their actions so the second step of the conversation is to do just that.
I had a manager a few months ago who had this situation to deal with and she explained to the team member that because she was coming in late, phone calls from clients were going unanswered and this was potential lost business.
Leadership is all about providing clarification for people, making them see the impact if their actions or non-action.
The vast majority of people come to work to do a good job, they just need an occasional reminder on how to do that.
Set your expectations
The next step is to set down your expectations and it’s important that it’s your expectations and not those of your boss or the organisation because of two reasons.
Firstly the authority needs to come from you otherwise they won’t listen to you on more import matters.
Secondly people are more likely to change their behaviour when they are talking to an individual face to face, it’s just human nature. Remember as long as you are being reasonable your expectations are not open to negotiation, it doesn’t mean you have to be unpleasant, but expectations about what behaviours are acceptable at work are not open to debate.
Seek agreement
After explaining your expectations what is open to discussion is the next step in which you ask the team member if they can meet your expectations, in particular if there’s any reason why the person can’t turn up on time in the future.
If there’s no reason then the conversation is over and they are likely to start turning up on time in the future.
If there is a reason why it’s going to be difficult and there may be dependant on public transport which is not reliable or changes at home especially with care of young children can make it difficult to get to work on time.
Whatever the reason the main ownership of the problem has to be with the individual and they are responsible for finding a solution “what are you going to do in order to turn up on time in the future?” You can offer support and advice but people only change behaviours when they take ownership of the problem.
People are more likely to change their behaviour if they are aware of the impact of their actions so the second step of the conversation is to do just that.
Keep it brief, keep it simple
If you follow the above steps then a conversation about timekeeping should only take a few minutes, a brief simple conversation that doesn’t involve any formal actions or procedures.
Obviously if the problems continue then a different approaches required, but based on all the leaders who have approached me for advice on this subject I can say with confidence that about 80 per cent of people change their behaviour and start turning up to work on time. Remember leadership is not about punishing people, it’s about providing clarification.