Procrastination is one of the worst problems that companies are faced with. Loss of productivity due to procrastination cost business millions of dollars in down time every year. Just because your employees are on the clock doesn’t mean that they are getting the most out of their work day and this can turn into a dangerous situation. Below we will look at the reason behind procrastination in the work place and ways to spot it. Also we will discuss ways to decrease procrastination in the workplace.
Why do employees put off doing work?
There are several reasons workers might procrastinate. Some workers get a thrill by putting off jobs and then rushing to meet the looming deadline. This can be counterproductive and often times they miss the deadline and have to ask for more time to complete the project costing valuable time.
Some employees are just simply scared of failure and they don’t want to disappoint the management. This type of procrastination can have a serious effect on company work load and often times cause conflict between employees.
Another type of procrastination that is similar to being scared of failure is the employee doesn’t feel he or she is qualified to do the job. Instead of going to the manager and explaining how they feel, workers often hide the fact and this results in procrastination and failure to complete the task.
How to spot a procrastinator in action
One way to spot someone procrastinating is the amount of time they spend online. A worker that spends too much time surfing the web is a sure sign that they are not doing their job. This can be very counterproductive and you would be surprised at how much company time is wasted every year by this action.
Lack of communication is another red flag that procrastination might be happing in your work place. If you send your employee an email regarding a project and you don’t receive one back in a timely manner, they may be avoiding you. Missed calls are also another way to spot this action. If your workers are never at their desk when you call them, this is a definitely a warning sign.
If your employee is a procrastinator another great way to find this out is by the amount of excuses they give. If your workers are always coming up with reason he or she can’t complete the job on time, chances are they aren’t working as hard as they should be.
Ways to stop procrastination in the work place
Hold regular production meetings where you encourage workers to report the progress of each individual project. This is a great way to see where workers stand and this helps keep deadlines from being missed.
Give rewards for jobs completed ahead of schedule. This is a great way to motivate employees and keep procrastination at a minimum. This really works well to boost production and promote reasonability in the work place.
Finally, monitor what your workers are doing. Keeping track of employees on a daily basis will give you an idea of what’s going on in the company. Don’t micro-manage but do make sure you know what’s going on with your workers. Do this in a friendly way and you will have great results.