You and Jeff are members of a project team. You’ve know Jeff for years. You like and respect him. He is new to the team. In what looks to you like an effort to prove his value to the other members of the team he has taken on too many tasks. He isn’t completing his high-priority tasks on schedule. And he keeps taking on new tasks.
What do you do?
I suggest you have a one-on-one conversation with Jeff as soon as possible. Tell him about what you have observed. Find out whether you are right. You might not be. But that’s less of a problem than suffering a project setback because you didn’t act on your observations.
The earlier I detect the problem the easier it is to talk with the other person. When I deny what my senses are telling me, the harder it is for me to have the conversation. I suspect the same is true with many of you.
I might start the conversation by saying “Jeff, you seem to be having trouble completing your tasks. I’ve noticed that the high-priority task of gathering and analyzing feedback from our clients hasn’t been completed. And you took on the task of writing an article for the next issue of IEEE Software, which seem like it will distract you from completing the client feedback study. What’s the story?”
If you find yourself talking about the situation with Jeff behind his back or you hear another member talking about Jeff behind his back, I recommend that you immediately bring your observations to both Jeff and the other team members. This is no longer a problem with Jeff — it’s a team problem.
Over commitment is a solvable problem when the team faces it. If Jeff is overcommitted, everyone will suffer the consequences. He may need to hear from the team that it’s okay to ask for help. He may need to reprioritize his work. He may need to decommit from tasks. It’s up to the team to assess and deal with the problem.
Everyone is on the same train. If you see that the train is about to go off the tracks, stop the train and address the problem.
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