Ask Anna – Help me manage my team’s deadlines

Dear Anna,

I’m so tired of giving people on my team tasks and then having to hound them to get it done. They miss deadlines and I end up picking up the slack. How can I make them understand how important it is to get it done on time?

JP

Dear JP,

Ask yourself these questions:
What motivation does your team member have to get it done? Basically, why do they care?
Note that this is not:
Why do YOU as their leader care?
Why SHOULD they care?

What are you saying it means about YOU if your team member doesn’t get it done?

When you think about what it means about you (answer to Q2), what emotions does that bring up in you? How are your emotions contributing or detracting from the way you are interacting with your team member?

Who has the control?

Is this team member capable (is it actually possible) of meeting this deadline? If not, is there anything you can do to help them develop this capability?

Write me back with what you uncovered.