How do you manage the impact of other's poor organisation?

I know I’m late to respond, but I recently helped one of my consulting clients with this exact issue. I gave him these 7 tips:

1. Stay focused on your own work

Don’t let slow coworkers pull you down. Keep your speed. Keep your standards. Do what you need to do, even if others fall short. Don’t waste your time waiting or worrying. Use every hour well. Stay sharp, even if no one else does.


2. Be kind, not bossy

It’s easy to act like the expert. Don’t. No one likes being talked down to. Even if you’re right, it won’t help if you make people feel small. You can stay helpful without acting like a leader. Let your actions speak louder than your words.


3. Set a good example

Work hard. Be clear. Finish what you start. Do it without bragging. Others notice, even if they don’t say so. When people see a system that works, they might try it too.
I've had tht happen to me.


4. Share tips—if they want them

If someone’s behind, you might know how to help. Offer a few ideas. Make it short. Keep it simple. Then stop talking. If they ask for more, give more. If they don’t care, let it go. Not everyone wants to learn. And that’s not your fault.


5. Don’t take on their work

Doing someone else’s job might feel faster. But it hurts in the long run. You get tired. They don’t grow. Bad habits spread. Stick to your part.


6. Speak up if it affects your job

If poor work from others starts to hurt your results, say something. Stay calm. Don’t blame. Just explain the facts. Talk to your boss.


7. Know you can’t fix everything

Some people just move slower. Some don’t care. Some have things going on you don’t know about. You can’t control that. Do what you can. Help if it makes sense. But don’t carry the weight of the whole group. Let go of what’s not yours.


Hope that helps.

Dave
 
Dave Edwards said:
I know I’m late to respond, but I recently helped one of my consulting clients with this exact issue. I gave him these 7 tips:

1. Stay focused on your own work

Don’t let slow coworkers pull you down. Keep your speed. Keep your standards. Do what you need to do, even if others fall short. Don’t waste your time waiting or worrying. Use every hour well. Stay sharp, even if no one else does.


2. Be kind, not bossy

It’s easy to act like the expert. Don’t. No one likes being talked down to. Even if you’re right, it won’t help if you make people feel small. You can stay helpful without acting like a leader. Let your actions speak louder than your words.


3. Set a good example

Work hard. Be clear. Finish what you start. Do it without bragging. Others notice, even if they don’t say so. When people see a system that works, they might try it too.
I've had tht happen to me.


4. Share tips—if they want them

If someone’s behind, you might know how to help. Offer a few ideas. Make it short. Keep it simple. Then stop talking. If they ask for more, give more. If they don’t care, let it go. Not everyone wants to learn. And that’s not your fault.


5. Don’t take on their work

Doing someone else’s job might feel faster. But it hurts in the long run. You get tired. They don’t grow. Bad habits spread. Stick to your part.


6. Speak up if it affects your job

If poor work from others starts to hurt your results, say something. Stay calm. Don’t blame. Just explain the facts. Talk to your boss.


7. Know you can’t fix everything

Some people just move slower. Some don’t care. Some have things going on you don’t know about. You can’t control that. Do what you can. Help if it makes sense. But don’t carry the weight of the whole group. Let go of what’s not yours.


Hope that helps.

Dave
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Thank you so much
 
@Dave Edwards

Really beautiful advice, Dave!

A friend once described self-care as "staying on your own side of the street." You do a good job here, in my opinion, of showing how this looks in practice, specifically in a work setting.
 
dtj said:
In our family we have a very "You teach people how to treat you" ethic. My inclination in cases like yours is to introduce "friction" into *their* side of the equation. If it's not your responsibiliity say to answer a question, but you usually just do. Put it on the back burner for a while. Don't jump in and just do it, because that only guarantees that you're on the hook for it next time. Something akin to "a failure to plan on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part". You get spam emails because they cost nothing to send. Make them cost enough and they go away. Make the stuff that gets dumped on you cost something. They not fill out some critical piece of HR paperwork and have a paycheck delayed, they'll not do that again.
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We have a new co ordinator. One person annoyed me so much and less than 2 days later, she followed up (as i was wiating to respond)with the co ordinator who then followed up with me.
When asked what she had done to understand what confused her, she didn't reply.
I need to learn to wait ! I suspect it is people's disabilities making this a challenge for me.
The fact that the work we do is help disabled people find strategies for these things is not lost on me.
 
chrisstribbs said:
We have a new co ordinator. One person annoyed me so much and less than 2 days later, she followed up (as i was wiating to respond)with the co ordinator who then followed up with me.
When asked what she had done to understand what confused her, she didn't reply.
I need to learn to wait ! I suspect it is people's disabilities making this a challenge for me.
The fact that the work we do is help disabled people find strategies for these things is not lost on me.
Click to expand...
Acutely or chronically, we all seemingly all have varying degrees disabilities and, as such, carry-on doing one's imperfect best as appropriately as possible?
 
Thank you for your insightful comments.
I don't say this without empathy and understanding, as I realise how challenging it can be from my own lived experience.
In this particular instance, the coordinator seems to serve as an intermediary for the exchange of information between myself and the other party. Often with these queries, I am the best person to answer them. Even for a shared workshop, the query came in whilst my co-facilitator was on holiday.
Perhaps I expect higher standards of my colleagues because of the nature of our work.
Luckily enough, I'm generally quite efficient and can respond promptly et cetera.

The impact of all of this for me, though, is that I feel chased by people who appear to immediately rely on me to solve the problem rather than taking any action for themselves.
 
chrisstribbs said:
Thank you for your insightful comments.
I don't say this without empathy and understanding, as I realise how challenging it can be from my own lived experience.
In this particular instance, the coordinator seems to serve as an intermediary for the exchange of information between myself and the other party. Often with these queries, I am the best person to answer them. Even for a shared workshop, the query came in whilst my co-facilitator was on holiday.
Perhaps I expect higher standards of my colleagues because of the nature of our work.
Luckily enough, I'm generally quite efficient and can respond promptly et cetera.

The impact of all of this for me, though, is that I feel chased by people who appear to immediately rely on me to solve the problem rather than taking any action for themselves.
Click to expand...
As an appropriate engagement that might be mutually beneficial

Perhaps asking them what they might think might be their best small as possible Next Action could be for easy recovery if the Next Action ends up being a less than an optimal Next Action?
 
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