Why things don’t get done

Many is the time a client has said to me:

No matter how many times I ask, things just don’t seem to get done

Things don’t NOT get done because team members wake up in the morning thinking “I’m going to sabotage the business today by NOT doing the thing I said I would do.”

You may recall, a long time ago, in a galaxy far away, Stephen Covey suggested “if there’s a problem with your team, the problem is you.”

Terrorists do occasionally show up in business. They are few and far between and you must never negotiate with them – shoot to kill.

The majority of your team members are law-abiding citizens who want to have a happy experience at work.

So what actually is going wrong when things don’t get done?

Can you add some reasons to this list?

1. I don’t know how to do this but I’m afraid to ask
   

2. that might be about the leadership style of you and/or your managers and a team that are FOMM – frightened of making mistakes

3. I don’t see the point and I’m already busy
   

4. that might be a lack of training or context for the action you have requested – classic example is asking patients for their email address and consent to receive marketing – the lack of context makes it seem intrusive and just another job on an already full list

5. I want to do this but I can’t find the time and space
   

6. typically, asking an overworked front desk team to somehow magic customer service when they are knee deep in patients and telephone calls

7. I’m unhappy moving this far outside of my comfort zone
   

8. you have simply picked the wrong person for the task

9. Yet another campaign – it will soon pass
   

10. a lack of consistency in your systems and protocols – changing every time you read another business book or attend a course – never seen through in the long term

11. I’m not going to be held accountable, so why bother?
    

12. you issue commands but don’t follow through

The problem is probably YOU.

Which is why so much of my time nowadays is invested in working with owners and managers on their leadership style, their management systems and the way they communicate with their teams.

There is absolutely no reason why things shouldn’t get done, unless there is no apparent reason why they should.