Did you ever wake up and know the moment your feet hit the floor it was going to be one of those days? Your suspicions are confirmed the moment your assistant comes into your office with the comment, “You’re not going to believe this.” She’s right. You don’t. How is it that supposedly adult professionals can behave like a bunch of five year olds? What didn’t they get the first time you talked with them?
Does this describe some of the moments you’ve had recently? As we’ve discussed, when the parties involved don’t buy into the solution the problem may persist and worsen. So now what do you do? Look at the options you have. Have you correctly identified all of them? The range of options could help frame the approach you may want to take. You can choose to ignore the issue and hope it goes away or – –
Today, we’re going to look at one extreme option. Obviously, the quickest and harshest solution is to fire one, both or all of the players. Before giving this option serious consideration you need to look at all the consequences, intended and unintended. Are you acting out of frustration or in the best interests of your organization? Can the organization afford to lose one or more of the individuals? Do you have the personnel in place to immediately take over the duties and responsibilities? Or will you have to go through the hiring process? How will that affect productivity? How will firing these individuals affect the morale of the specific work unit and the overall organization? What message do you want to send? What message will be received? As you contemplate this extreme solution you can’t help thinking that the day can’t get any worse. Want to bet?