useless work colleagues with no intitiative...what to do?

Answer 1

I have this same situation...

I feel like banging my head against the wall would be alot easier.

I've tried to figure out ways to motivate. It might work for that day, but the next day she is back to the old way... and she is under the impression she is overdue for a promotion. I think part of it is her husband's solution on how to handle things (but that is only from the lopsided opinions of what she tells him)

I've tried using other people as examples, I've tried building up her self worth, I've tried building up her expertise at what we do, I've even tried some sense of humor. One thing I came up against when I tried to use others as examples is that she saw these people as ones who "brown nosed" or did way too much work (in her opinion) to get promoted. In a way that makes sense because of her opinion of the level of work needed to get that promotion she wants -- if she's doing "enough", then others are brown nosing

Nothing seems to work and I've come to the conclusion that it's a waste of time. We are teammates under the same supervisor so I have no real say in the matter, but we are friends too. I've tried to explain to her that she won't get this promotion she thinks is due her until she shows more inititave. And she says to me "well, if that's the way they want to be, I won't try at all"

So, as to your question - I haven't found the solution yet, but what works for one person may not work for another. Unless these people are your responsibility or at the very least teammates, I would do nothing about them.

You can't make people do things they do want to do.

Answer 2

Ask their supervisor to watch them more closely. Maybe he / she already knows about their lack of productivity. There's a way to measure practically everything, including productivity. Ask the supervisor to measure that.

Answer 3

Just get on with your job. It is the management's problem, not yours.

Answer 4

nothing doing