When Your Co-Workers Don’t Pull Their Weight
BY BETHANY HETMAN
Does this scenario sound familiar? Your work ethic is so strong that other people around you (like your colleagues!) tend to lean on you because they know you are the get-it-done type.
While it may feel good that people rely on you, it can also be pretty darn frustrating—especially if your co-workers pile more and more on you and stop pulling their own weight.
Photo by Andrew Neel.
If this is the situation at your workplace, it might be tempting to just absorb the extra workload. But If you do, eventually you run the risk of burnout. And complaining to family or friends will only make you feel better in the moment, but the problem won’t actually get solved.
Instead, consider trying the below tactics to motivate your co-workers and get them to pull their weight.
Speak Their Language
In an ideal world, everyone would communicate the same way and process information similarly. Unfortunately, that’s not the case. To be truly effective at work, you need to know how to navigate different personality types. Sometimes it is as simple as wording tweaks to get your co-workers to step it up.
Think about the person giving you the most trouble. Are they motivated by praise? Do they tend to rebel against authority?
Say they are the rebellious type. Rather than telling them you need them to do their part, which may make them dig in their heels, try appealing to their contrary nature. Say something like, “No one thinks we can get this done in time—what do you think?”
Photo by Jason Goodman
Ask For Help
Part of the burden of being a super capable, hard-working person is that others never see you sweat. And that means they won’t notice when you’ve naturally taken on tasks that were languishing. For example, perhaps you have divided up tasks for who is creating which slides in a presentation—but no one on the team thought about who is going to print all the copies out and staple them together to pass out. So, you just do it.
It’s on you to raise your hand and let people know you’re picking up too much of the slack. To be most effective, center the conversation around you and how you feel—rather than playing the blame game. Say something along the lines of, “I am buried and need help—could you take on figuring out how to project our team’s presentation on the big screen in the conference room.”
By making it about you and your needs rather than what the other person is not doing, it prevents them from getting defensive and they’ll feel good about being able to do you a solid.
Be Honest—But Kind
Sometimes being direct is the best path forward. No, that doesn’t mean you should tell your co-worker you think they’re lazy and have a crap work ethic. But it does mean that it may be fruitful to be honest and say that you've been picking up a lot of the slack, listing out what you’ve done in a clear, non-emotional way.
To make it palatable, come from a place of kindness. Explain how the added work is affecting you and outline exactly what you need.
While it may be tough for them to hear, no one wants to feel like people are talking behind their back or secretly annoyed with them—so they’ll appreciate your honesty in the long run.
By Bethany Heitman, Contributor
P.S. Remember that no matter what you're going through right now, you don't have to do it alone! There are others like you in our community, where we interact on a daily basis, fight our demons, share our victories, and watch over each other as friends and accountability partners.
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