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How do I deal with co-workers who don't do their work? I'm tired of picking up the slack.

By Ms. Communicate
| January 16, 2009

Dear Ms. Communicate,

I'm having difficulty working with my co-workers, who are really nice people, but who are flaky, who don't say what they're going to do which means I'm constantly picking up the slack or sending reminder notes. I don't like feeling like a nag and I don't want to alienate them by making them feel I'm telling them what to do. What's the most diplomatic way to get my message across?

Dear The Office Nag,

My first suggestion is to sit down with one or all of your co-workers for an informal meeting or "chat." Talk about how things work in the office, and voice some of your frustrations in a honest, but not complaining kind of way. Then initiate a brainstorm of ideas of what you all can do to rectify the situation. Hopefully when you share your concerns in a positive way it will have a positive effect and move towards a better work culture than what's going on now.

My next suggestion might be harder for you to do: STOP! Stop reminding, stop leaving notes and stop doing tasks that aren't yours to do. This might be challenging for you, since it seems to me that you and the co-workers may have developed a dynamic where they don't do tasks, you "nag," then you do it. See the pattern? They know you'll do it eventually, they clearly have a higher tolerance for the tasks not getting done (or they don't notice, or they don't care), and it clearly is making you unhappy.

However, if the tasks you refer to are part of their jobs, this could be a larger concern than you just being a "nag." This situation may have to be brought to the attention of a manager or supervisor. This might seem drastic, or sound like I'm suggesting you rat them out, but if they're goofing off, it's not fair to you and your workload. Nor is it particularly productive for you to continue with the status quo since it's bugging you so much. Going a level deeper, maybe there's something about your personality that tends to have you enjoy being "the reliable one" who always picks up the slack. In my experience, the kind of dynamic you described is rarely one-sided. Good luck!