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| Doing the Best She Can (but behind Schedule) |
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Your lead scientist isn't making her deadlines, which causes problems for other team members, and jeopardizes the entire project. What are your options for dealing with the situation? Dr. Merom Klein, founder and director of The Courage Institute, explains how the five-factor courage formula can help organizations work more efficiently and effectively.
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| |  | Option 1: Don't say anything. Your scientist doesn't get upset but you suffer with her poor performance.
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Option 2: Say something. You run the risk of saying something that will upset her (or you).
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With courage, there is another option. Read on.
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 "We live in a world where courage is in short supply especially in the workplace. In today's pressured workplace we face situations that require courage that we couldn't imagine a decade or a generation ago," says Merom Klein, Ph.D., director of The Courage Institute.
In his recently published book, The Courage to Act: 5 Factors of Courage to Transform Business, Klein and co-author Rod Napier use detailed case studies spanning four continents and dozens of countries to describe and detail the five factors needed to face adversity, seize opportunities, deal with ambiguity, and make extraordinary things happen.
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Dr. Gail Ashkenazi is one of the top scientists in her field. You are lucky that she decided to leave her academic position and take the job with your company. In addition to the work she is doing for the company, Dr. Ashkenazi lectures at a prestigious university and presents papers at major scientific conferences.
Because of a series of meetings abroad, vacations and conferences, you could not meet with Dr. Ashkenazi for a thorough review of the project for 10 weeks. You thought things were OK, however, because the project deadlines were clearly mapped out on a GANTT chart and because all of the e-mails from Dr. Ashkenazi said that there were no significant problems.
You are very disappointed to learn that Dr. Ashkenazi's part of the project is running more than six weeks behind schedule. When you asked her how this could happen, she said the following:
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| | | She was doing the best she could and didn't need any help.
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She didn't want to bother you with problems you couldn't control, especially when you were so pressured immediately before and after vacation.
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Things aren't as bad as they seem.
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| | | The employees and contractors will get angry and delay things further if they feel threatened or pressured — so she decided not to pressure them.
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The GANTT chart was too aggressive in the first place.
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The delay could be costly and embarrassing, if top management or the investment community finds out about it. It could be unpleasant for you and it could damage your reputation as an executive who gets the job done. If Dr. A delegates two upcoming conference presentations and if her research team works extra hours, you are confident that the project could be back on schedule within a month. If she continues to run things in a way that makes everyone comfortable, she could cause a year-long delay with other departments and outside research partners.
This isn't the first time you've noticed Dr. A missing deadlines. And it isn't the first time you've talked with her about it. Now, however, it's a more serious problem that it's ever been before. Dr. A does great work and you don't want to lose her to stifle her initiative.
If this were the time to hold a performance management discussion with Galit Ashkenazi, what would you balance your appreciation and the need for improvement?
It's never easy to level with someone and say, "We have a problem," especially when you don't want to dampen their enthusiasm or jeopardize their loyalty and good will.
"Courage," Mark Twain wrote, "is the mastery of fear, not the absence of fear." Just because sitting down to talk with Dr. A makes your palms sweat, that doesn't mean you can avoid it. Just because you wish she had the deadlines well in hand, that doesn't mean she's put you in an unfair position. The first step in preparing for your conversation with Dr. A is to get command your own emotions. If you bring anger to the conversation, Dr. A is bound to be defensive. If you're afraid and unsure of your position, your concerns won't be taken seriously.
| | The Courageous Reply
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Using the 5-factor courage formula, there are five steps of leveling with Dr. Ashkenazi about the problem:
- Candor: Establish a climate to speak and hear the truth. Schedule a time to talk about the problem when you can talk things out comfortably. Invite her to a place where you can talk in private. If you're asked the topic of the conversation, use neutral language. "I want to talk about how things are going on your project," is a better topic sentence than, "I want to find out why you aren't meeting your deadlines."
- Purpose: Agree on lofty and audacious goals. Put yourself and Dr. A on one side of the fence; put the performance issue on the other side of the fence. Being sensitive to Dr. A's feelings doesn't mean that you can't be direct or honest. "I'm concerned about some of the things I'm hearing (or seeing) in your project," is a sentence that opens the conversation with compassion and purpose. Affirm what's important to you and to the organization (in this case, on-time and within-budget project deliverables) and why it's in Dr. A's best interests to meet those objectives. Ask if there are other lofty and audacious goals that have to be pursued.
- Will: Generate spirit and confidence. Affirm your confidence in Dr. A — without letting her off the hook or discounting the seriousness of the problem. Share what you know about her reputation and her passion for the work. Let her know that you're behind her. Ask whether she's on the team, and is willing to work with you to make improvements. Get buy-in. If she seems overwhelmed or frightened, deal with the feelings. Get under her wings and provide a mental and emotional lift.
- Rigor: Build an improvement plan. With a foundation of candor, purpose, and will, you're ready to work on a plan — what, exactly, Dr. A will do differently to improve on-time performance, how long it will take to make up for lost time, what support she needs and where she can obtain it. "I'll do better," isn't a plan. If that's what Dr A. says, step back a step to accept it as a sign of good will. Then, set a time to talk further about specifics — who, what, where, when, and how. Be equally rigorous about her requests of you and about the support you can and will provide.
- Risk: Trust and invest in the relationship. In most cases as complex as this, one conversation isn't enough to improve performance. If you never bring it up again, Dr. A might assume that the matter wasn't really serious or important. She might forget. Or she might feel unfairly persecuted, because you never acknowledged sacrifices and improvements. If you've made commitments, honor them. If you've asked Dr. A to make commitments, acknowledge her efforts. Say "thank you" and affirm your appreciation.
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To learn more about the five courage factors, visit The Courage Institute website.
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The Trendletter team welcomes your comments.
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