What if somebody repeatedly shows up late for work

What if somebody repeatedly shows up late for work, returns from lunch late, delays reprting and is late for meetings too? Resist the inclination to think of the person as a problem. Its what the person does or doesn’t do that’s the problem. Thinking the problem and doer are one and the same invites more problems. It will infect our attitude which will affect our interactions and cause unnecessary friction/frustration because we cant change another person. What we can do is to influence the person by clearly communicating our expectations, giving feedback and modeling the behaviour we prefer. It’s a common practice to refer to behaviour as ‘unacceptable’ or ‘inappropriate’. If we do, then its better to put the words in some context. “According to the company policy, its inappropriate …. “ or “Everyone on the team agrees its unacceptable when ……….”. Saying ‘never’ or ‘always’ as in ‘I ve noticed you are always late for meetings’ or ‘I am concerned because you never comply with safety regulations…’ imply that there are no exceptions. In majority of the cases, receivers of such messages will find exceptions to prove you wrong. These words also imply that the concerned people are not likely to change. Instead of ‘always’ use ‘often’, ‘frequently’, ‘repeatedly’ or ‘as a rule’……. Instead of ‘never’ say ‘rarely’ or ‘infrequently’….. To effectively communicate (corrective) feedback use these steps : 1. Start with well meant intent. 2. Identify the action or the behaviour to be corrected and point out the consequences of the behaviour. Using the ‘I’ language, say ‘I noticed when you…….’ Or ‘I ve reviewed your work and found…’ (The phrasing ‘that you’ or ‘when you’ refers to what the person does, as a behaviour. Its not the same as saying ‘you are…’ such a person). 3. When suitable to the circumstances, pose an open question to create a dialogue and to show that you are receptive to hearing the other side of the story. Ask ‘what are the reasons for……..’ and be willing to listen.. 4. Express your expectations and clearly communicate what you need, want or expect the person to do differently. Point out the positive aspects of making the correction to motivate the person to make the change. Specify a time frame in which the performance is expected to improve. 5. Ask an open question to elicit a response – “How does that sound to you?” or “What are your thoughts about this?” 6. Convey your willingness to work with the person on improvement or offer training that will help correct the behaviour. 7. Praise what you want more of – express positive feedback that affirms your well meaning intentions, reinforces their efforts to improve and keeps a balanced approach.