CAREER CLINIC
Munthana Thamlikitkul
Dear Khun Munthana, A problem has developed at work regarding the performance of one of my team members and I'd appreciate your advice on it.
When the young lady first came to work for me five years ago, she was an outstanding manager - obviously bright and keen, with excellent presentation skills and a willingness to take on projects.
However, in recent weeks she has become noticeably unorganised, easily upset, forgetful and tardy. She is also developing a tendency to procrastinate, miss deadlines and 'drift' mentally when she should be concentrating.
Basically her performance has become inconsistent: Brilliant one moment and unsatisfactory the next. An added worry is that she is having difficulty communicating with others at work and more and more seems to prefer working alone. I know that outside of the workplace she is happy and enjoys hanging out with her peers. I'm also assured that she is in good health and has no major personal or emotional problems. All of which leads me to assume that the change in her performance must be work-related.
Any advice on how I can re-motivate her would be appreciated.
Melanee
Dear Khun Melanee,
This sounds like a classic case of a smart and ambitious young manager reacting to having more on her plate work-wise than she can manage. I'm willing to bet her early promise and willingness to be involved has resulted in her getting more assignments and greater responsibility.
She's been with you long enough to be trusted with a heavier workload, the demands of which may be making it difficult for her to maintain her early high level of performance. As with any over-worked manager, this is a situation that often causes feelings of resentment and certainly distraction; she wants to be able to meet her work commitments but gets side-tracked by the number of things she has to do and so ends up doing some things well, others not so well. This is a recipe for frustration.
Eminent psychiatrist Edward M. Hallowell, founder of the Hallowell Centre for Cognitive and Emotional Health in Massachusetts, talks about a neurological phenomenon called attention deficit trait or ADT. He says that ADT is basically caused by brain overload and that this is something that is becoming epidemic in large, busy organisations. The core symptoms of ADT, which appear gradually, are distractibility, inner feelings of frenzy and impatience. People with ADT also have difficulty staying organised, setting priorities and managing time, all symptoms shown by your manager as her performance has dipped.
Whether your team member actually has ADT or not, Dr Hallowell's suggestions for controlling it certainly constitute good, constructive advice for your manager - indeed anyone who feels they have too much on their plate at work.
Here is some advice:
In general
- Get adequate sleep.
- Watch what you eat. Avoid simple, sugary carbohydrates and moderate your intake of alcohol. Add protein and stick to complex carbohydrates (vegetables, whole grains, fruit etc).
- Exercise vigorously for at least 30 minutes at least every other day.
- Take a daily multi-vitamin and try to get in some omega-fatty acid.
At work
- Do all you can to create a trusting, connected work environment.
- Have a friendly face-to-face talk with a person you like every four to six hours.
- Break large tasks down into smaller components.
- Keep a section of your work space or desk clear at all times
- Each day, reserve some "think time", which is time free of appointments, emails and phone calls in which you can sit quietly and think.
- Before you leave work each day, create a short list of three to five items or priorities you will attend to the next day.
- Pay attention to the times of day when you feel that you are at your best; do your most important work then, and save the rote work for other times.
When you feel overwhelmed
- Slow down!
- Do an easy rote task: re-set you watch, write a note about a neutral topic (such as a description of your house), read a few dictionary definitions, and even try a short crossword puzzle.
- Take a break and move around: Go up and down a flight of stairs or take a brisk short walk outside.
- Ask for help, delegate a task, or brainstorm with a colleague. In short, do not worry alone.
As a hard-working team leader you can pre-empt ADT, not only within yourself by following theses suggestions, but also by communicating them to your team and encouraging its members to share their burdens.
I hope this helps.
Munthana
Munthana Thamlikitkul is chief executive officer and managing director at Tricor Outsourcing (Thailand) and Tricor Executive Recruitment. She was formerly a partner in the executive recruitment business at Pricewaterhouse Coopers.
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