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Original poster

Direct report consistently forgets things

30 replies

HettyMeg · 05/09/2023 10:20

I line manage someone who is supposed to deputise for me in my absence. They work full time and I am part time so there are times when they are supposed to work independently and they are aware of this. They are fine with managing the "day to day" duties and simple tasks on those days but seem to really struggle with anything beyond that. They are in a relatively senior position ie not a junior level. They are experienced in the skilled industry we work in and they are paid above average for the industry (although not highly paid, we work in not profit sector).

On days when I have been off work and then come back in, I have come to expect that things will have been missed. These are things I specifically ask them to do in my absence, so I am not expecting them to just guess what needs to be done. I will ask them if they have done it and they will respond with a "No, I didn't get to it, sorry". When asked why, reasons range from not having enough time to feeling unwell (but not being off sick) to being out on a long lunch meeting. Essentially excuses are constantly made and I am sick of it. This is not a one-off thing but a pattern. When it does happen I make a point of stating why it's important that these things are picked up in my absence, and I get another apology but it doesn't change then happens again.

We work in a small, non profit organisation with one HR person who essentially manages the HR administration. There is scope for disciplinary processes but I don't want the stress of going down that route. I just want them to improve. I have invested a large proportion of my time and energy over the last few years on this person and there have been considerable improvements but there are still issues.

Can any other line managers please advise if you have handled similar? Managing this person is making me hate being a manager but I don't know how I can change that. I spend 50% of my week on them - I want to be able to focus more on the main part of my job. It is affecting my happiness at work and making me dread it.

OP posts:

MsFrost · 14/09/2023 16:55

There is scope for disciplinary processes but I don't want the stress of going down that route. I just want them to improve.

Sadly that's not always how it works. It sounds like this person has has chances to improve and you need to get a bit more direct with it at this point.

You need to clearly lay out what you expect of them and tell them that they have not been performing well enough.

Honestly - they need a bit of a kick up the backside and as a manager that's part of your job. It's not nice to performance manage but sometimes it's necessary, unless you want this headache to continue.

LadyLapsang · 14/09/2023 17:57

By how many days / hours did you reduce your working week? Did they get the opportunity to increase their capacity by passing some of their workload to others to allow them to take on areas of your work? Is there scope for you to plan work so that it mainly comes in on your working days or is it purely reactive? I doubt their pay increase equates to the money the company is saving by you reducing your hours.

Biscuitlover456 · 15/09/2023 13:20

simplifysimples · 06/09/2023 11:26

I have managed someone like this and it was extremely frustrating!
What's your feeling about why it is happening? Lack of time, too much workload - or lack of effort or priorities, trying to undermine you? I think this will determine the approach.

Here's what I did - it took a lot of time and intensive effort over a few weeks, but sorted the problem out permanently (though I didn't win any popularity contest). If you want to do the same, check work policies carefully and try to get a senior manager onboard first.

1.I set up a meeting to outline the issue, expressed concern without any blame. Listened carefully. Then made clear I was going to explore thoroughly what needed to be addressed and improved to make things work smoothly for the colleague in a supportive way. Was it a workload issue, time management, organisation, lack of guidance?

2.In order to address issues raised and the feedback from colleague, I gave them a time and motion study to complete, initially over the course of a week. Every half hour during the day they wrote down which task they were involved in and how long each task was taking them. They also wrote a priority list at the beginning of each day, and at end of each day a note of any deviation from the priorities with an explanation. Also any work they weren't able to complete for lack of time or too many competing demands.

If they said they didn't have time to complete the list I replied it was their top priority in order to ensure they had a manageable workload; or I could shadow them for the day/week to do it myself on their behalf - yes even on my days off!

3.Once I had this competed list, I started analysing the tasks and how long each one had taken. I also analysed their priority list - especially on days when I wasn't there to monitor myself. I also asked for a copy of their work diary commitments such as meetings for that week, so I could cross check timings and relevance. This enabled me to see if my expectations were reasonable and see whether it was a workload issue.

4.Further meeting to discuss what this had shown up. Studied their diary list with them for upcoming important tasks.
Then I set my own priority list for them to use, (if I felt theirs wasn't optimal), and my timetable for them to follow for the following week. I checked every day on this, and made them accountable for the priority list at the end of each day as before and also at the next meeting. During the day I made spot checks on the list to see if they were sticking to my timetable and if not find out why at the end of the day. I adjusted timetable for the following day with them if necessary. I presented this as a way of supporting their workload.

5.Started to ease of the monitoring once it was working effectively, and just giving the priority list and brief timetable for action every day - again monitored weekly. Any slippage we went back a stage of completing the priority list and time and motion study/detailed daily timetable given, analysing workload and priorities.

It took about 8 weeks of really intensive effort on my part to show I wasn't going to backtrack and let things slide and I was very serious about my focus and expectations, but also addressing any issues of workload, timetable or conflicting priorities they were experiencing. After this my priority list was always given top billing when I was away. They knew any ditching of my priorities would restart the whole process again.

If such an approach is acceptable in your workplace and you try it, if it doesn't work you then have a clear paper trail with evidence of intensive support you have offered, and their response and any poor performance to follow up with the competency/disciplinary route if necessary.

This sounds like micromanagement in the extreme

dressedforcomfort · 15/09/2023 13:25

Apologies if you've already covered this elsewhere in the thread, but are there any EDI type circumstances that might need factoring in here?

My direct report is dyspraxic and absolutely cannot process complicated verbal instructions so everything has to be written down. Which is fine, because it's a reasonable adjustment, but it took us some time to get to the nub of the problem because she wasn't particularly forthcoming about disclosing her condition.

ManchesterGirl2 · 15/09/2023 18:56

I think its best to sit down with them and raise it as a concern. Say you have noticed a pattern that urgent tasks are not getting completed on your day off. State briefly the negative impact on the business and emphasize how important it is.

Then listen. If they say "I was too busy", dig into why they were too busy. Which tasks where being prioritised over your ones? If they were on a long lunch meeting, what happened after the meeting?

Either they genuinely are too busy, in which case you need to work with them to help prioritise their workload, or they are not putting in the effort, in which case you shining a spotlight on their excuses, and questioning them in detail, will make them more likely to just do the task in future.

Then tell them you'll review whether this pattern has improved, and schedule a meeting for a month's time.

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