Be careful of lazy workers who look like they're busy

“Hard work pays off in the future. Laziness pays off now.” - Steven Wright

There’s a difference between busyness and laziness.

All right, I’m going to say it; lazy people drive me bonkers!!!

I resonate better with doers, but like most of you, I have to deal with people I think are lazy almost every day!!!

Busy workers can do a great job while being fundamentally busy. However, lazy workers might try to masquerade their laziness by explaining how busy they are. Before they try to pull a fast one over me, I’ve developed a sixth sense (ok it’s just a gut feel) to decipher a busyness from laziness.

Laziness just doesn’t happen in isolation at work or at home. Laziness is a habit that will be apparent in almost everything someone does. Here are the 7 criteria I look for in determining how lazy someone is:

  1. You don't put clothes away or leave a wet towel in your bedroom – ok, maybe I’m thinking about a family member!!!

  2. You won't help others – favourite words are me, myself and I

  3. You aware you're holding yourself back – but can’t be bothered to do anything about it

  4. You don't empty the rubbish bin – until it’s completely overflowing

  5. You don’t stack or unstack the dishwasher – there are dirty dishes in the sink and on the benches

  6. You procrastinate most of the time – this is disguised as being a deep thinker

  7. You're really busy but don’t know why – focus is on the unimportant easy work instead of the more complex important work that makes a difference

The rule of thumb I use is laziness is an issue when more than 50% of this list applies to someone. When I’m coaching a person I think is lazy, I give them the list and ask them to self diagnose because it’s a tricky proposition telling someone they’re lazy. Maybe that’s a story for a future blog….

If you have lazy workers, then you need to decide if you want to manage up or manage out. If it’s the latter, then how you manage them is to:

  1. Train them with techniques on how to be efficient

  2. Tap into what motivates them

  3. Encourage, support and challenge them to stretch their beliefs

  4. Measure them on output

Lazy workers can be productive workers when their misgivings aren’t ignored.