| Title: | What's all this fuss about 'sax and violins'? |
| Notice: | Archived V1 - Current conference is QUARK::HUMAN_RELATIONS |
| Moderator: | ELESYS::JASNIEWSKI |
| Created: | Fri May 09 1986 |
| Last Modified: | Wed Jun 26 1996 |
| Last Successful Update: | Fri Jun 06 1997 |
| Number of topics: | 1327 |
| Total number of notes: | 28298 |
The following is being posted for a member of the community who
wishes to remain annonymous.
JimB. H-R co-moderator
I have an associate at work who has made a mess of my work - his
problem, he is an alcoholic and came from a very tough family.
I have tried to work things out with him a number times and have
esculated the matter to my managers. There has been no success.
He seems to hate the world and takes it out with the people around
him. On a few ocassions he has blown away work I have been doing
on the system, has initiated plenty of confrontations, and cannot
be counted on to show-up on time or follow through on a pressing
issue! I'm not the only person this is happening to, but I'm get-
ting the worst of it since I have to work closely with him and have
allot more skills/education - he feels very threatened!
Each discussion I've had with him starts with his drinking/family
problem and how he's working it through. Each discussion with a
manager I've had starts-out with his drinking/family problem and
how hes working it through. Never is there any resolution made.
It appears to more of an excuse now!
I'm starting to hear how I have to work this out with him. What
can I do?
Your input would be greatly appreciated.
| T.R | Title | User | Personal Name | Date | Lines |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 879.1 | It's only yours if you accept it! | SPARKL::CICCOLINI | Fri Oct 20 1989 19:38 | 8 | |
Don't make it your problem. Make it your manager's problem. Document
everything - all your deliverables and all their dependencies.
The reason your co-worker is unproductive is irrelevant and not
your concern. When your co-worker misses a deadline you require, or
messes you up in any way, document it and present it to your manager
for him/her to deal with or to accept the resultant delays. It is not
your job to motivate employees or deal with their problems. That's
what your manager gets paid for. Let him or her deal with it.
| |||||
| 879.2 | JENEVR::CHELSEA | Mostly harmless. | Fri Oct 20 1989 19:43 | 27 | |
Re: .0
>Each discussion I've had with him starts with his drinking/family
>problem and how he's working it through. Each discussion with a
>manager I've had starts-out with his drinking/family problem and how
>hes working it through. Never is there any resolution made. It
>appears to more of an excuse now!
Sounds like it's time to start setting some goals and deadlines to
measure progress then. If you bring up a problem and the old "he's
working on it" comes up, try getting some kind of commitment. "When
can I expect this problem to get resolved?" Or you could be more
preemptive -- "It's been <however long>. I'll try to cope with this
for <reasonable amount of time> longer. By then, I expect to see <some
change in behavior>. If I don't see progress by that time, I'll
<whatever you do to escalate a problem>."
It really depends on how much goal-setting your manager is doing with
this guy. Somebody has to do it. Since his behavior is hurting your
ability to do your job, you have a justifiable reason for doing it.
BTW, is going to EAP one of the things he's done to work through
things? If it gets really troublesome, with no progress being made,
consider going to EAP yourself -- for yourself. Perhaps they can help
you find ways to cope with this situation. I wouldn't expect them to
intervene in this guy's recovery, but they can at least help you get
through it.
| |||||
| 879.3 | Personnel? | SSDEVO::CHAMPION | Letting Go: The Ultimate Adventure | Sat Oct 21 1989 16:24 | 7 |
If the suggestions in .1 and .2 don't work for you, you might even
consider going to someone in personnel.
Good luck.
Carol
| |||||