Is someone not pulling their weight yet expecting to enjoy the fruits of your group's hard work? Here are five tips to prevent freeloading. Avoid the unattractive, energy-sucking role of the nag. Instead increase the chances of bringing out the best talents and temperament in everyone. That makes work more productive and life more fun.
1. Meet in person at least once
Face-to-face meetings are more likely to build relationships than meeting virtually, by phone or online. After making a connection in person we are inclined to bond with the group and want to follow through.
2. Establish rules of engagement
As a group create ground rules that involve rewards and penalties. If, for example, someone doesn't meet a deadline and doesn't explain in advance, offering an alternative to make up for the loss, will the group drop that person?
3. Agree on a few vital commitments
As a group, prioritize top goals and tasks. Rather than agreeing to many assignments, settle on a few that are important to each member. Success begets more success - and group esprit de corps. Over-committing then missing goals makes one feel guilty and avoid teammates. It brings down the whole team.
4. Create a visible task tracking system
Create a way that all committee members must record their progress on a task and view others' progress. Such transparency affects each member's reputation with others on the team. The most successful self-managed teams have a specific top goal and a short, prioritized list of concretely-described tasks - each with a lead person and timetable. All these elements are easily viewable by all members.
5. Provide an automatic reminder system
Create a way that members receive reminders for key deadlines, perhaps by email. This system may also include notification when other team members have completed tasks or provided information that's needed for a member to take the next step.
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