Incompetence is a major problem in the workplace which brings along with it, its own set of consequences.   Other than serving as a hindrance to achieving goals in the set time frame, repetitive incompetence can also put a person’s employment at stake, which, at times is enough to jeopardize their career path.

And the employee is not the only person getting affected. Incompetence is a double edged sword that puts both the parties- the employee and the employer- at the losing end. The consequences can be huge.

But have you ever wondered- What could be the real reason behind incompetence? And a solution of it, perhaps, which can eliminate this major workplace problem?

Not sure whether you did or not, but Chakshu Kalra, Director at GreyB, has it all figured.

In a recent email directed to all the Managers and Team leaders at GreyB, Chakshu briefly pointed the real reason why team members miss on certain allocated tasks and gave a strategy that could help set things right.

Wondering what the content of his mail is? If yes, time to stop wondering and start reading, as we attached his original email below. If you find it actionable, you should follow this in your workplace too. BTW, you can thank us later!

Have you ever wondered why team members miss on certain things like – a project deadline, a formatting issue, a calendar invite, a training session?

One thought (and I stand guilty of the same) that the reason team members don’t do what you need them to do, or match to your standards, is simply that they don’t know enough.

Yeah, ignorance.

A common solution – loudly and clearly inform them what needs to be done?

A use case scenario- A team member doesn’t do the part of the job assigned like- following up on project, finding tier 1 result, missing the deadline…

What do you do?

Warn him first, put it on email, let him or her know,…

Threaten to fire?

But will that bring change?

I was thinking about this and when I gave a deep thought, I noticed that ignorance was/is never the issue.

So what is the problem?

People don’t always care about what you care about.

What should one do to set things right?

Communicate your vision and tell them your pain story. Share  your vision and your beliefs. Enroll them in a discussion on what you care about and why. This will bring a lasting change.

The problem is not ignorance, it’s lack of understanding why you do what you do.

Kind regards,

Chakshu

Have any thoughts on this? Chime in and let us know your views in the comment section.

PS: We share a lot of what we do and how we think internally. From failure stories to workplace heroes, we never miss citing instances from which a lesson could be learned. If you ever got curious about our culture, here is where you should look- Internal Email Archives.