How To Work Around That Employee Who Procrastinates All The Time

Nancy Anderson
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It's common to procrastinate once in awhile. You may drag your feet and get a little behind, which is bound to happen. However, when you work with an employee who procrastinates all the time, it can affect the company's productivity and your progress as well. Learn how to uncover the reason for the procrastination to help improve office morale and get all employees on board with pressing deadlines.

Determine the Cause

Although it may be tempting to label a procrastinating employee as "lazy," the delay in meeting deadlines often stems from other issues entirely. Fear of failure is one of the primary reasons why people procrastinate. Your co-worker may be so consumed with fear of disappointing management and colleagues that he puts off work until the last minute. As a result, conflict between employees usually erupts and workplace morale sinks.

Some employees procrastinate because they thrive on the thrill of rushing to meet a deadline. When you have a work environment with the same type of personalities, this practice can be energizing, but most often, not everyone in your workplace appreciates the rush. As a result, the final product may be sloppy, riddled with errors and ultimately cost the company money with necessary overtime needed to meet the deadline.

A lack of confidence also contributes to procrastination. Employees who feel as if they're not qualified enough to do the job or don't have any guidance or training on how to complete the task simply let time pass without asking for help. As a result, co-workers view this behavior as procrastination or negligence.

Motivate Employees

A key strategy to eliminate procrastination in the workplace is determining how employees are motivated. You don't have to offer bonuses or additional compensation for employees to do their job, but it's necessary to find out what inspires your co-workers to complete a project.

Consider a healthy competition among co-workers. For example, ask employees to tally their progress on a large flow chart on display within the office. As each step of the task is completed, others can see who's falling behind or running ahead. Procrastinators often dislike when they're singled out, so if everyone's progress is on display, it may be just the motivation they need to stay on track.

Progress reports are also helpful to keep procrastinators moving. Ask management to set checkpoints for each project to monitor progress of the team's work. The gradual deadlines reduce the pressure of one final, looming deadline that's easy to put off.

As tempting as it may be to nag your co-workers about procrastination, the most effective strategy is finding a way to motivate them to meet deadlines and work as a team. Employees who feel loyal to each other often put more time and effort into completing projects and pleasing their colleagues without procrastinating.

Photo courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
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  • Nancy Anderson
    Nancy Anderson •

    @Frederick thanks for the comment. Please note that we are not recruiters nor are we an agency. We post jobs for you to review and submit your application. It sounds like you might have been in touch with a company regarding a position and they never contacted you again. There is no reason why you can't contact the company and ask about the position and your application. That way, if they are not interested, you can cross it off your list and move on. Best of luck.

  • Frederick G.
    Frederick G. •

    Jobs that did this; Well like this you never toward me where the job was, never where was the job? never called me back

  • Nancy Anderson
    Nancy Anderson •

    Thanks for your comment @Jacqueline. It might help to get them more invested in the company but maybe that's not what drives this person. If a procrastinator is harming his team and you take him aside to discuss this with him - sure he might improve but it will only be in the short term. Once he feels that the pressure is off, he will go right back to his old ways. It's sad but true that unless he really sees that he is a procrastinator and finds ways to turn it around himself, he will always be a procrastinator. Sometimes it's best to cut your losses and let him go so that you can hire someone who really wants to work.

  • Jacqueline Parks
    Jacqueline Parks •

    Sometimes I think that rewards and progress charts are overdone. I have found it useful to try to get procrastinators more invested in the work of the company. I find that when someone really feels that they are doing valuable, important work, they do better work that is more likely to be on time. Some things that have worked for me have included company meetings sharing company goals and one-on-one chats about where a worker is going in the company. Of course, charts and rewards do have their place. I tend to prefer using them for teams. If a procrastinator is harming his team, he is more likely to improve due to peer pressure.

  • Nancy Anderson
    Nancy Anderson •

    Thanks for the comments. @Tara if the procrastination is affecting the work being produced by the team, I, as the co-worker, would take it upon myself to talk to that person. Why? Because their procrastination piles more work on top of others and, if the projects are not getting done on time, makes the whole team look bad. If, after talking to the co-worker and not getting any results, then I would escalate it to the manager. Should the manager have seen it for themselves? We like to think that he would but people who procrastinate can be very crafty and have ways of hiding that they aren't really accomplishing anything. They can make themselves look busy all day long but never produce anything. So sometimes it is up to the team to convey the issue to the manager. If action is not taken, then you might consider going to HR but make sure that you tell your supervisor your plans and give them the opportunity to do it themselves. @Erica it is true that we never know what a person is going through unless they open up and talk about it. But if it's affecting their performance, it's time to talk. If it's because they don't work well with others, maybe they are in the wrong position or even the wrong company. A manager can dig in and find out what's going on only if the employee is willing to open up. If not and they are not able to work cohesively with the team, the manager may not have any choice but to let them go. You can only help a person for so long without seeing any positive results before you have to say enough is enough. Think of the time and attention that the manager has to put on ONE procrastinating employee and how it hurts the team as a whole. Sometimes the hardest decisions are the best ones.

  • Tara Avery
    Tara Avery •

    Is this the responsibility of the co-worker? Or of a manager? Because it seems to me that adding tasks like discerning the reasons for procrastination or motivating others to keep them from procrastinating adds additional layers of responsibility--likely unpaid, and possibly stressful--to an employee's position. Although this is good information, is it possible that an employee might find a way to broach this subject with management, or with HR instead?

  • Erica T.
    Erica T. •

    I agree that managers should find out the reasons why some employees procrastinate, but how should they broach the topic? In some cases, employees may be going through some personal issues and may not want to talk about it. Or maybe they don't work well with others. And how can managers motivate employees (consider that the employee performs well when not procrastinating and is valuable to the company) who are dealing with a personal issue or workplace conflict?

  • Jay Bowyer
    Jay Bowyer •

    I completely agree with the writer: determining the cause of the procrastinating behavior is key to understanding and finally (hopefully!) eliminating it. Empathy is still an important part of life in general and the workplace in particular. When employees feel understood, they're much more likely to strive for success in the office.

  • Kellen P.
    Kellen P. •

    I also disagree about the chart. I know from personal experience that this kind of "gamification" can blow up in a manager's face. Rather than ceasing procrastination, it can make employees feel like they're being micromanaged and shamed. This is especially true in an industry where "progress" isn't easily quantified (like the arts).

  • Nancy Anderson
    Nancy Anderson •

    Thanks for the comments. @Lydia that procrastinator has to work for someone. Whoever their supervisor is, he/she should be taking action sooner rather than later. If you are working in a team and one person procrastinates and puts the rest of the team in jeopardy, I think that the team leader should be taking that person aside and letting them know that their future with the company is in peril if they don't straighten up. Make sure it's documented. If the procrastination continues - termination is imminent. It's no fun trying to work with a procrastinator. It's frustrating to say the least. Just don't let them get away with it.

  • Lydia K.
    Lydia K. •

    What should you do when an employee consistently procrastinates on projects? The article seems to advocate a light handed approach. But I've worked places where being late on projects or falling behind on your part would probably get you terminated. This is understandable because companies lose money when every employees don't perform on schedule. Is there a good way to find a middle ground on this issue?

  • Shaday Stewart
    Shaday Stewart •

    I wouldn't lump "creative types" together and call them disorganized, as those two qualities have nothing to do with one another. Many creative professionals work for themselves and manage all of their projects independently without anyone cracking the whip, so procrastination is something that happens on an individual level.

    People struggle to stay on schedule for a wide variety of reasons. Some procrastinators lack the ability to see the big picture and break it down into manageable parts. They work more efficiently when given one task at a time, rather than having the full responsibility of managing all the collective parts of a project. Some procrastinators fill their work environment with unintentional distractions, some are insecure about their work, and others are simply uninterested in their job.

  • Nancy Anderson
    Nancy Anderson •

    Thanks for the comments and the ideas. @Shannon that is a great idea and I have seen that in action. In that case, the motivator was money as in if we finished the project ahead of time, we would receive a nice size bonus. Just like @William said - nothing motivates more than money. @Abbey the progress report would be for the team as a whole I would think. Individual progress is personal and should only be talked about between the individual and his supervisor. At least that's how I feel about it. Anyone else want to chime in?

  • Abbey Boyd
    Abbey Boyd •

    I like the ideas to motivate employees, but fear that those who do their work without difficulty in meeting deadlines may not be happy to have their progress continually tracked. In regards to progress reports, would it be appropriate to only use with certain employees? Is there a way to do this without making these employees feeling completely singled out?

  • William Browning
    William Browning •

    If I was a manager, I'd give an procrastinator a certain amount of time to get his act together. If something doesn't change in 30 days, then find a way to cut his hours, suspend him for a week without pay or do something that hurts him in the finances. Nothing motivates me more than losing money.

  • Shannon Philpott
    Shannon Philpott •

    I completely agree that healthy competition is the best way to motivate co-workers who procrastinate consistently. In past positions as a supervisor, I have successfully launched incentives for meeting deadlines and goals. The employees enjoyed not only the extra bonus from winning the competition but also the glory of the title of a winner.

  • Nancy Anderson
    Nancy Anderson •

    @Laura thanks for your comment. For the procrastinating boss - maybe you could try to teach them organization. Is the procrastination because they are the creative types - what we used to call "think tanks" and they just can't see the details? Sometimes all they need is to have someone organize things for them in such a way that they can easily get them done and stop the procrastination. I had a boss like that - the creative type. Each day I would hand him a short to-do list and I would check it at the end of the day. By giving him something visible as well as keeping it short, he was easily able to get his grunt work done and go back to his creative type work. @Katharine it's okay to disagree.:-)

  • Katharine M.
    Katharine M. •

    These are good tips, but I disagree with the idea to put everyone's progress on a chart. The employees who don't procrastinate will likely be annoyed that they're being micromanaged when they didn't do anything wrong, all in the service of protecting the feelings of someone who doesn't work as hard as they do.

  • Laura Winzeler
    Laura Winzeler •

    What about the boss or manager who procrastinates all of the time? How do you address that diplomatically and effectively? For years it seemed I was destined to work for disorganized but very creative “idea” men who weren’t so good with the details. I ran around putting out their fires, anticipating problems, and generally doing their job on top of mine much of the time. That can be crazy making and lead to fast burnout.

  • Elizabeth C.
    Elizabeth C. •

    Very insightful.

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