"When the Cat's Away"

I am taking care of a project right now, and my boss is out of town. However, there is one co-worker in my group who is not doing her work. I don't know how to let her know she should do her work at work, instead of planning her daughter's birthday party during work hours or surfing the internet. She has attitude, so there is no easy way to let her know. It is very unfair to other team members, as everybody is doing extra work because of her.

Taking Care of Business

Dear Taking Care of Business,

I'm assuming that when you say you are "taking care of a project" you have responsibility for it. That means that you have responsibility for the team assigned to complete the project, in my understanding at least.

If that is the case, then I suggest that you need to confront the person who is not pulling her weight. She has attitude so that it will be uncomfortable for you to confront her. So you leave her alone and others pick up the slack. That is unfair to them.

Therefore you need to overcome the discomfort and confront her. Gather some evidence first. Document the time she spends on private business. Document the times that other team members complete tasks assigned to her. Document her other inappropriate behaviours.

The confrontation need not be calling her on the carpet, you need to assess how strong to come on. You should take her into a private office, tell her that she is not pulling her weight and make it clear that there will be consequences if things don't change.

If you need some help exercising your supervisory authority you can ask your boss or your HR department for some guidance, but the responsibility lies with you.

Good luck with this one,

Dr. John

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