July 30, 2007Ask Meryl sloppy work
Ask Meryl: How to address incompetence
My assistant has been on vacation and we’ve discovered many errors in her work. I expect her to be defensive about it if I bring it up. How can I discuss it with her? I expect her to be defensive.
Meryl Responds
Address it from the perspective of wanting to help her be successful. Say,
*While you were gone, we discovered a series of errors that lead me to believe that you are need more support than we’ve been giving you. Let’s meet so I can tell you what we found, get to the source of the problem and work out an improvement plan we can overcome these issues.
And do just that.
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I would set up a meeting with my assistant to discuss
the work that was covered for her. After asking about
her vacation, I would tell her how the work was
completed and ask why her solution differed from the standard.
You don’t mention the type of errors. Were they
all the same kind? Was there only one process to follow?
I would not call them errors until I gave my assistant
a chance to explain the situation.
Comment by Phoebe — July 31, 2007 @ 12:37 pm
You have every right to determine if your Assistant is up to speed on all of the tasks they’ve been assigned, however, if you wait until he/she is gone before looking at those tasks, it will seem that you are looking for errors, especially if you only ‘look’ at their tasks while they are out of the office and question them when they get back. Perhaps you should have weekly meetings to clarify any misunderstandings he/she may have and continue to have them, in a positive manner, until you both feel that you are on the same page.
Comment by Gayla W — July 31, 2007 @ 1:06 pm
If someone said this to me I would become angry, it sounds as if I am some kind of dummy and/or a child. I prefer a streight up and honest request. This sounds like you are beating around the bush instead of saying what you mean and meaning what you say without being mean. It is mean to imply that the person needs an improvement plan for their problem. please come up with a better reply for this person. Thank you.
Comment by Susie — July 31, 2007 @ 1:18 pm
My question is this Why were her errors being looked at while she was on vacation? To mee this is sneek attack and should be handled on a day to day basis. She will probably explode.
Comment by FRANCES KING — August 1, 2007 @ 11:46 am
Someone was covering for her, and in the course of doing her work, the errors became clear.
I recommended the approach I did to:
1) Keep the focus on the future
2) Offer yourself as a resource and a partner rather than exclusively a finder of faults
3) If the errors were as severe as the questioner suggests (she provided more details in the question she sent me) she clearly does need an improvement plan.
4) This was the set up for a meeting where the errors would be directly outlined and documented. It was not the place to go into detailed explanation about the errors.
I stand behind my recommendation, but am open to other approaches.
Thanks!
Comment by merylrunion — August 7, 2007 @ 12:08 pm
Everything Meryl recommended seems appropriate to me, if the atmosphere in the office will support it. If the boss in this scenario is honestly concerned about a possible lack of support in the past, and can honestly offer “more support” and not just be spouting politically correct rhetoric, I think that genuine concern will come across in the discussion. I do like the idea of starting from a neutral position, allowing for the assumption that what the boss views as errors may have been the result of a lack of experience, a misunderstanding, lack of training, lack of support, lack of clearly stated objectives, or whatever. If I was the assistant, it would make me feel less under attack, more a part of the solution, and less a part of the problem.
Comment by Kathleen — August 17, 2007 @ 1:54 pm