As a boss, you may sometimes hear things like, “That’s not my job” or “I didn’t know I was supposed to do that.” When you get excuses from your team members, it can be frustrating – especially if you hear excuses often. While you may want to cut ties with employees who repeatedly make excuses, this won’t help anything in the long run.

Instead, it’s better to go from trusting the person to trusting the process, according to Liane Davey, a team effectiveness advisor, professional speaker and author.

If someone on your team regularly responds with “but, but, but,” she says your job is to create a process that strengthens their capabilities. It should also cancel out their standard excuses.

How do you deal with employees who have an excuse for everything? Keep reading this issue of PromoPro Daily, where we highlight Davey’s top suggestions.

Provide clarity. When employees toss out excuse after excuse, it could just be a lack of understanding. They may not know what’s expected. Davey says it’s important to establish objectives that leave little room for excuses. Focus on the purpose of the work and spell out exactly what you want to accomplish. Once you’re aligned on the purpose of the work, she says you can paint a picture of what good, bad and unacceptable outcomes would look like.

Align on the approach. Employees might make excuses when they don’t know how to do what you ask. If you suspect this is the case, Davey suggests sharing effective approaches and precedents from other projects. Just don’t take their nodding heads as understanding, she says. Instead, find out how they’re processing the request by asking them to share their plans.

Raise the stakes. Sometimes, employees just lack the motivation to do what you’re asking. If they’ve lost their zip, emphasize their obligation and clarify what they could lose if they don’t perform their jobs to the best of their abilities. Consider whether the carrot or stick approach would work best with each particular employee. For example, dangling a carrot would connect the successful completion of a project to a variety of positive outcomes, Davey says. Wielding a stick entails outlining the consequences if they don’t deliver. What about an employee who starts with enthusiasm but gives up at the first sign of adversity? Davey recommends helping this person prepare a plan B upfront.

If you have an employee who always seems to have an excuse, don’t get mad, and definitely don’t resort to micromanaging. You also shouldn’t hope they’ll miraculously snap into shape and start delivering. Instead, put a process in place that removes the excuses and sets the employee up for success.

Compiled by Audrey Sellers
Source: Liane Davey is a team effectiveness advisor, professional speaker and author.