“Bad planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part” ~ Proverb
Have you ever worked with someone who it seemed was always in a panic because there was something that they didn’t get to and now it was urgent that it get done so someone had to jump in for the rescue? I am not talking about the occasional item that slips through the crack on our desk and the occasional asking for help when this happens. These are people who seem to make it a habit of having emergency work loads all of the time. When this becomes a chronic or even semi-chronic issue with a co-worker/employee, and a diagnostic workup has been done as to why, the bottom line is almost always poor planning for the future. Along with the diagnostic evaluation of the situation management needs to take the time to address how they can help the employee with a plan to keep from having to push the emergency button all of the time. A written work plan can help with this problem as the employee can actually see where their time needs to be spent and on what and when. Written plans allow for a clearer picture of job tasks and projects and can help employees to be able to prioritize what they need to accomplish and in what time frame. Some people can do this by having a plan down in their head, but for those who are more visual writing it down is great way to get out what needs to be done and causes them to think their job duties through easier to prevent failures or emergencies. Remember the old saying “out of sight, out of mind’? Keeping a written plan in front of you is a constant reminder of what is coming up next to prepare for. If you are a business owner or manager make sure you go over your employees work plan to make sure that they understand in what order they need to accomplish their tasks, as many people if given guidance as to the priority of what needs to be done on their plan may fall back into the “emergency situation” because they did other tasks first. The saying “fail to plan, plan to fail”, is right on target and is very true. When you take the time to help an employee or co-worker master their workload so they overcome these “emergency” situations you are improving your communication and relationship with them along with identifying problems and possible issues that could affect the future of their employment, and you also are improving your work environment by stopping those emergencies before they happen and that is good for everyone. This problem left unattended to could cause co-workers (who are organized) to become frustrated, angry and possibly consider looking for new employment elsewhere. With that thought in mind, it is essential for your practice that this problem be addressed and resolved. I will leave you with this oldie but goodie, “Proper planning prevents poor performance”
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