Being Late Hurts Your Crew

Showing up late to work affects your entire crew

Mike, Superintendent for a general contractor in Salem, OR, told Session 8B of Turbo's Leadership Development Lab:

"At the beginning of the shift on our project in Salem, one of my pipe laborers, we will call him Tardy Ted, showed up late, again! When I approached him to discuss his tardiness, I decided that now would be the perfect time to use Turbo's 5 Step DARE+ approach to address his chronic behavior. I said "Ted, I noticed you were late this morning (I really wanted to say AGAIN, but I didn't), what happened?" (Describe the observed unacceptable behavior and Ask 'what happened?') Ted proceeded to tell me he woke up late again (this has been an ongoing problem for him). I waited until he was finished with his story. Then, I reminded him of our standard (Restate the agreed-to standard). All crew members are at their job station, dressed, including protective equipment, and ready to work at 6:59am. I carefully explained to him why it is so important to be on time - one person late affects the entire crew's productivity for the entire day (Emphasize the reason this standard is important). I asked him if he understood and waited for his response (PLUS ask for their agreement to perform the standard). He said he could see that his tardiness was affecting more than his direct contribution to the project and I appreciate his productive approach, his willingness to do whatever it takes, emphasizing his importance to me and the company (end on a positive note!).

"Only time will tell if this works and he is able to get to work as agreed. What I am sure of is that the standard is crystal clear. He knows he is missing the beat and I feel a lot better about how I handled it than I have in the past when I let it slip, was sarcastic or blew up.

"The lesson I learned from this experience is that I don't always have to get mad to make my point. I learned that I can combine positive reinforcement with corrections.

"The action I call you to take is be clear about your standards and be straightforward with your team when they violate standards of excellence.

"The benefit you will gain is a smoother operation and a more productive crew."

As I listened to Mike's story, I was impressed with his patience and willingness to try a new approach, to take a new tack. You will only achieve different results by using different methods. All change starts with you.

Please Be Our Guest!

Session 1 of our next Leadership Development Lab starts today and we'd love to have you and your team join us to make the change to becoming better communicators, a more engaged team and more empowering leaders.

Tuesday, Oct. 18th, 5:29pm at the Holiday Inn Portland South located at 25425 SW 95th Ave, Wilsonville, OR 97070

Contact Admin@TurboLS.com or call 503-691-2867 for details