I lead a team of five engineers working on a software project. All of them are very co-operative except one engineer. Although good technically, he does not come to meetings on time and always gives excuses for delayed work. How can I handle this and stop this recurring behavior?
The Team Doc Says…
You have two distinctly different situations here. Both will benefit from implementing accountability for this team member. The first thing you need to do is have a face to face feedback session with this team member to find out what is the cause behind the issue. Use standard feedback skills to have this discussion. You can find more information in these articles.
- The Do’s and Don’ts of Giving Feedback
- Feedback: A Priceless Communication Tool
Then you need to define what is acceptable behavior and define what will happen if the acceptable behavior does not occur. Together you and the team member should create a plan of action to monitor the behavior. This should include regular feedback meetings with the team member.
If you need step by step instructions, my Special Report #3: How To Improve Team Member Accountability at can help you a bunch.
Best regards,
Denise O’Berry
aka ‘Team Doc’
Tags: team building, Leadership
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