How to Tell Someone Their Work Is Sloppy - The Muse

How to Tell Someone Their Work Is Sloppy - The MuseHow to Tell Someone Their Work Is Sloppy Youre a hard worker. You like things to be done on time, and done well. To you, its a small ask.So when someone you work with keeps turning in unfinished reports or sloppy pieces of work, it really grinds your gears.Not only that, it affects everything else you do. That subpar assignment might mean you push back an important deadline, or piss off a client, or lose out on the respect of the rest of the company. Basically, this persons mess-up costs you, and everyone around you, a lot.Sitting down someone whos turning in low quality work and giving them a talking to isnt how most people like to spend their days. But its important to do respectfully and in a timely manner, if you care about your and your teams success.Muse career coach Eilis Wasserman emphasizes that there isnt one right way to do this. But one rule of thumb is that if you are not the supervisor and it affects your work, then bri ng it up to your supervisor first before trying to tackle it yourself. Having the feedback come from a higher-up gives it more weight, and can feel more natural than when it comes from a co-worker of the same level. Plus, if your supervisor manages your co-worker too, they will be more familiar with the persons work ethic, history, and day-to-day responsibilities and thus will be better able to come up with a solution.But lets say youre the supervisor and youre confronted with less-than-stellar performance from an employee- or youre an employee who cant count on your manager to do the work for you. Here are some tips for handling this conversation with ease.Put Aside Any Negative FeelingsGetting handed sloppy work can irritate even the calmest of individuals, and understandably so. Maybe youre already swamped and this is going to set you back an extra few hours. Maybe theyre a contractor and youre paying them a lot of money thats now gone to waste. Or maybe youve asked them time and again to follow the directions laid out in front of them, to no avail.Regardless of how upset you might be, its super important to let your emotions settle before confronting the person about it. Take a walk, draft a venting email that you dont send, maybe even wait a day or two- whatever works for you.If its anger, if its frustration, get rid of it, says Muse career coach Steven Davis. You want to come across as the calm, cool, and collected professional you know you are. And bashing down the persons door wont just reflect poorly on you- it will easily turn them off from listening to you and taking your feedback seriously.Dont Assume badeanstalt IntentIts possible this person has no idea how their actions are affecting you. Give them the benefit of the doubt that theyre not actively trying to annoy or undermine you.Maybe theyre distracted by something happening outside the office or in their personal life. Or maybe the tasks the person is given to do are too far beyond their capab ilities, says Davis. Or they could be slacking because theyre demotivated, whether because theyre unhappy in their job, under pressure from someone higher up, or uninterested in the work itself.Or maybe this person knows theyre messing up, but is choosing to move forward to cover their tracks. Sometimes they dont want to appear inadequate even though the amount of work they were given is actually too much, Wasserman suggests.Consider if any of these could be the cause before jumping to conclusions on your own (like that they dont care how difficult theyre making things for you). Remember to start with trust, says Wasserman. The only way youll know whats really going on is to have a civil, productive conversation.Address It Early (and Privately)It is better to address as soon as you can so future work will not be affected, and the employee can start improving, Wasserman explains.Addressing it earlier rather than later also allows you to have a more informal chat as opposed to a serio us, prolonged discussion. The first time it happens, Davis explains, you might just check in to see if they were aware of what theyd done- maybe those spelling errors or incorrectly formatted spreadsheets were truly a mistake, and theyll correct it on their own in the future. But if they dont, two times is one time too many, he says. Once its clear this isnt a one-time fluke but a bigger performance issue, youll most likely want to pull them aside privately to talk it out.Reflect on the Persons HistoryIn preparation for your sit down, its key to gather some context. Think about this employees past performance. Do they typically submit top-notch work, or has this happened before (and how many times)? Has it been a slow decrease in quality, or is this a complete 180 from what they usually turn in? How you address one big mess-up will require a much different approach than how you address someone who has been disappointing for some time.Also, is there a trend you can pull out in terms of the kind of work they seem to struggle with, or is it pretty consistent no matter the assignment?Performance really is a combination of someones ability and how motivated they are, Davis explains. So historical data can be a good indicator of whether its their ability or motivation (or something else) thats holding them back.Finally, whats this persons personality? Are they usually open to constructive criticism, or do they tend to get verteidigung when pulled aside? Knowing how theyve previously handled feedback will help you decide your strategy. Identify the DNA of the person. Thats how you influence people. Because what works on Steven is not maybe going to work on Alyse, says Davis.Consider Your Own RoleIf youre this persons boss, its your job to support and guide them toward success- so if theyre struggling, ask yourself if theres something you could be doing differently, too. Sifting through the possibilities helps you to weed out whether its a you problem, a them problem, or a bit of both (the most common outcome, unfortunately).For example, you could have high expectations that your team is unaware of. Some professionals may be perfectionists or impose their own personal standards on others work and consider work to be sloppy even though that might not be truly the case, says Wasserman. So while something looks unpolished to you, it could seem up-to-par in your employees eyes.Overall, says Davis, its really important for everyone to understand what your expectations are. If this person is underperforming because your directions werent clear, youll need to reiterate to them exactly what youre looking for from them. If the reasons theyre having difficulty are more about their lack of support or skills to do the job, then your expectations and level of guidance may need to be adjusted for future assignments.Ask Thoughtful QuestionsWhen you meet, youll want to probe a bit to get to the bottom of the situation- whats going on, what they understand about their performance, why theyre making the decisions theyre making, and what their expectations are for the project.I would start just by asking how the employee is feeling about their progression and their work to get the ball rolling, says Wasserman. By letting them lead the conversation, she explains, they may also come to their own conclusion that somethings not quite right.For example, you might sayName, how are you feeling about your progress on project? Do you feel the timeline and expectations are achievable?Or, I just wanted to check in as Ive noticed the work youve submitted recently doesnt match the level and accuracy of your previous work. Is there a reason why you think this might be different from things youve completed in the past? Is there any way I can assist you in getting it where it needs to be?Actually pay attention to and show interest in what the persons telling you in response to these questions. Maybe they need other resources, or other people to help them. T hey could possibly feel like theyre ignored, or they dont have support, says Davis. By showing youre taking their answers seriously, theyre more likely to feel more comfortable opening up and taking feedback- now and later on. Give Examples (But Avoid Being Accusatory)Its possible they genuinely dont have an answer as to why their work isnt meeting expectations, or dont see any problem with the work theyre turning in.In that case, youll want to come in with relevant examples that you can point to instead of being vague, says Wasserman. What exactly is wrong with what theyve done, and what is it actually supposed to look like? And why is it supposed to look that way?If what theyre doing is impacting others (besides you), youll want to mention that- albeit carefully- as well. Sometimes after addressing the sloppiness, the worker may not realize the importance or severity of their errors. Without being accusatory you could show the worker how this type of poor work affects others in th e company and the image of the company overall, explains Wasserman. To do this effectively, youll want to avoid using aggressive, accusatory language, or initially assigning direct blame she adds. Rather than saying, You messed up, youll want to explain, Heres how the persons actions creates negative outcome.(Also, dont actually say their work is sloppy- the word itself can be interpreted negatively on the receiving end, especially if the person doesnt perceive their output as having been a result of laziness or carelessness.)Finally, remind them that you care about their growth and success. You know this person probably wants to move up in their role- so make it clear following your changes will help get them there.Lets put this all into practice. Say that your direct report keeps turning in hurried-looking documents, causing you to have to redo them before submitting them to a client. You could say the followingI wanted to talk to you about your recent work on the Goldman account. The last two documents Ive received from you have had a few glaring errors Ive had to fix. Specifically, I noticed in your last report that you didnt fact-check a lot of the statistics we quoted, which caused me to have to spend a few hours reworking some of the sections where I spotted discrepancies. This was also the case in the report from last month, where we actually didnt cite some important data and I had to add it in. Im curious if theres a reason why you might have overlooked these?I want to be able to trust you with these assignments with little supervision and eventually be able to hand this account over to you to manage independently- because I believe you absolutely have the potential to handle it. However, I cant do that unless Im sure these kinds of things wont angelegenheit through the cracks and were giving our clients our best work. So I want to work with you to ensure this doesnt happen moving forward. If you think extending the deadline would give you more time to refine the details, or creating a checklist for things to remember to include in each report would help, or if you have any other suggestions, Id love to spend this time together talking through how I can support you.Its possible just having this talk will be enough to get the person back on track- a kick in the butt can do wonders for someone whos coasting. But even if it requires you to rework some of the ways you collaborate, youll both come out stronger.Keep an Eye on Their ProgressWasserman emphasizes that even after youve chatted and come up with a plan you should track their progress and check in from time to time- giving feedback, readjusting your strategy, and offering solutions. More importantly, if their sloppiness continues, youll need to make it clear there are consequences to their actions- whether thats being put on a performance improvement plan or getting let go.But give them the chance to prove themself, too. If they immediately start to show improvement on a sm all scale, acknowledge that. Compliments and positive reinforcement will only encourage the person to keep up the good work- making your job that much easier.