How to Get a Lazy Co-worker to Meet Deadlines - The Muse

How to Get a Lazy Co-worker to Meet Deadlines - The MuseHow to Get a Lazy Co-worker to Meet Deadlines Weve all been there A colleague is a week late with his part of your teams presentation, and youre debating whether or not to send him yet another, Hey, hate to bother you, but when can we expect this? email. You dont want to be rude, but hes making it harder for you to do your own job. And while you may not be too concerned with how he looks, you would hate for your manager to think you dont understand deadlines.Pestering people is one of the less fun parts of working with others, but as any organized, motivated person will attest, youre often forced to do it in order to reach your own goals. However, rather than assuming thats part of working on a team, you can bypass it altogether by emphasizing three things at the abflug of any project. 1. Emphasize Why Youre Giving the AssignmentOften times, people are reluctant to complete a project if they dont see the benefit for themselves i n it. Especially if it seems like sitting down and doing it will require a ton of extra time or energy- or, if it seems like grunt work an intern could do. So, any time you assign work to someone (or, alternatively, are assigned to work with someone who you think might slack off), do what you can to make it clear why you think he or she is perfect for the role. Is this her specialty? Do his reports always stand out due to the visuals he adds? Does this help her work on a skill thatll lead to a promotion down the road? If you can turn the task into a compliment, it makes it more much likely that the person will get it done, and get it done well. 2. Emphasize Why the Deadlines UrgentEver notice that even when you hint to a colleague that you really, really need something done quickly, he still takes his time? Thats because you need to explain not only that its urgent, but why exactly thats the case. Saying that you need reports done by the end of the week sounds pretty serious, yet it rarely results in making people want to work any faster. However, saying that the reports need to be completed by Friday because the investor meetings on Monday- and theyre expecting to have results from your team to review over the weekend- adds more context to the hard deadline. 3. Emphasize That Youre in This TogetherSending repetitive Did you do this? emails day after day gets aggravating really quickly, not to mention, it can make you sound like the ultimate micromanager. Additionally, it gives off the vibe that you dont trust your colleagues to get their work done.Instead, at the outset of the project, meet with your colleague to set a realistic timeline for smaller parts of the project, as well as a deadline for the final product. Working together to select a date and time makes your co-worker feel like he or she has a say in it- and makes it harder to ignore. If youre still running into problems after implementing these three ideas, you can also delegate your nudging to a s hared calendar, task management system, or to-do list that sends automated reminders. Armed with all these strategies, youll spend less time poking the person two cubicles over from you and more time actually getting your work completed.Photo of deadline notebook courtesy of Shutterstock.