1 00:00:03,440 --> 00:00:08,440 Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio. 2 00:00:09,160 --> 00:00:15,240 Speaker 1: Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. 3 00:00:16,280 --> 00:00:22,200 Speaker 1: Today's tip is to do fairness checks, particularly at work, 4 00:00:22,280 --> 00:00:26,439 Speaker 1: but in any situation where you've got team projects you 5 00:00:26,480 --> 00:00:28,960 Speaker 1: want to make sure that everyone feels like you are 6 00:00:29,040 --> 00:00:34,559 Speaker 1: pulling together. Regular fairness checks are a great way to 7 00:00:34,640 --> 00:00:39,760 Speaker 1: figure that out. Today's tip comes from Tessa West's new 8 00:00:39,840 --> 00:00:44,159 Speaker 1: book Jerks at Work, Toxic co Workers and What to 9 00:00:44,200 --> 00:00:49,479 Speaker 1: Do About Them. This guide to handling difficult colleagues helps 10 00:00:49,520 --> 00:00:53,400 Speaker 1: people with the messy reality that not everyone is automatically 11 00:00:53,400 --> 00:00:56,960 Speaker 1: great to work with, but when we still need to 12 00:00:57,000 --> 00:01:00,400 Speaker 1: get stuff done, there's a lot we can do to 13 00:01:00,520 --> 00:01:05,360 Speaker 1: improve the situation. One of the most common kinds of 14 00:01:05,400 --> 00:01:10,120 Speaker 1: toxic co workers is the free rider. You no doubt 15 00:01:10,200 --> 00:01:13,919 Speaker 1: remember this character from your school days, when the group 16 00:01:14,040 --> 00:01:17,240 Speaker 1: project meant you and maybe one other person did all 17 00:01:17,240 --> 00:01:20,080 Speaker 1: the work, and the free riders were nowhere to be 18 00:01:20,120 --> 00:01:23,520 Speaker 1: found until it was time to collect the good grades or, 19 00:01:23,880 --> 00:01:28,240 Speaker 1: in the workplace version, get credit with the boss. The 20 00:01:28,319 --> 00:01:31,160 Speaker 1: problem with free riders is not just that they are annoying, 21 00:01:31,240 --> 00:01:34,120 Speaker 1: though of course they are. It's that we soon have 22 00:01:34,280 --> 00:01:39,080 Speaker 1: a tragedy of the Commons situation. If free riders keep 23 00:01:39,200 --> 00:01:43,360 Speaker 1: getting away with their free rides, other folks who might 24 00:01:43,440 --> 00:01:47,800 Speaker 1: have been more diligent notice the lack of accountability, so 25 00:01:48,640 --> 00:01:53,160 Speaker 1: they put their attention elsewhere. Tessa notes that in groups, 26 00:01:53,360 --> 00:01:56,640 Speaker 1: fairness applies to how jobs are decided, who does what, 27 00:01:57,440 --> 00:02:01,160 Speaker 1: how rewards are determined, and how anal decisions are made. 28 00:02:02,080 --> 00:02:06,280 Speaker 1: When procedures aren't fair, people aren't set up to contribute 29 00:02:06,320 --> 00:02:12,280 Speaker 1: evenly to the group, and slacking spreads. So she recommends 30 00:02:12,320 --> 00:02:16,280 Speaker 1: a two part fairness check. She says that you can 31 00:02:16,360 --> 00:02:19,720 Speaker 1: start this process at any time during group decision making. 32 00:02:20,840 --> 00:02:24,240 Speaker 1: Part one at the beginning of a project is to 33 00:02:24,360 --> 00:02:27,360 Speaker 1: have the team make a list together of what each 34 00:02:27,400 --> 00:02:32,000 Speaker 1: team member's tasks are for that time period. This ensures 35 00:02:32,200 --> 00:02:39,640 Speaker 1: task visibility, Tessa rights. Then Part two happens periodically. You 36 00:02:39,680 --> 00:02:42,840 Speaker 1: have team members complete a short survey that checks on 37 00:02:42,919 --> 00:02:49,800 Speaker 1: each person's progress. Tessa recommends four questions. First, which items 38 00:02:49,800 --> 00:02:54,160 Speaker 1: did you complete from your list? Second? Did you face 39 00:02:54,240 --> 00:02:58,600 Speaker 1: any unexpected hurdles for example, did some tasks take longer 40 00:02:58,639 --> 00:03:03,320 Speaker 1: than anticipated? Third, did you do any extra work you 41 00:03:03,360 --> 00:03:06,760 Speaker 1: didn't plan for? If so, what was the extra work? 42 00:03:07,919 --> 00:03:11,280 Speaker 1: And four, did you notice anyone else on the team 43 00:03:11,320 --> 00:03:15,799 Speaker 1: doing extra work. I really love this last question because 44 00:03:15,919 --> 00:03:19,200 Speaker 1: many people might be hesitant to complain about stepping in 45 00:03:19,280 --> 00:03:22,600 Speaker 1: and helping a colleague. You do have to keep seeing 46 00:03:22,639 --> 00:03:26,079 Speaker 1: your coworker in the halls and such, but people are 47 00:03:26,120 --> 00:03:28,800 Speaker 1: more likely to report it if they notice someone else 48 00:03:29,120 --> 00:03:33,160 Speaker 1: doing it. The surface result is giving another team member 49 00:03:33,440 --> 00:03:38,080 Speaker 1: a gold star. The more important result is that if 50 00:03:38,360 --> 00:03:41,560 Speaker 1: lots of people are earning gold stars for doing someone 51 00:03:41,640 --> 00:03:47,120 Speaker 1: else's work, you can see that you have a problem. 52 00:03:47,280 --> 00:03:50,920 Speaker 1: Tessa writes that these four questions act as a vitals check. 53 00:03:51,720 --> 00:03:54,280 Speaker 1: They allow you to test the health of the team 54 00:03:54,320 --> 00:03:58,480 Speaker 1: and detect any warning signs of free riding behavior. Well, 55 00:03:58,520 --> 00:04:00,480 Speaker 1: it's nice if your boss can be on board with 56 00:04:00,520 --> 00:04:05,200 Speaker 1: the fairness checks. Teams can obviously do this on their own. Indeed, 57 00:04:05,280 --> 00:04:09,120 Speaker 1: you should all take turns being the checker and enjoy 58 00:04:09,240 --> 00:04:12,400 Speaker 1: the moment when the known free rider is in charge 59 00:04:12,400 --> 00:04:16,040 Speaker 1: of the survey. It can be eye opening for all involved. 60 00:04:17,320 --> 00:04:19,080 Speaker 1: If your teams have come up with a good way 61 00:04:19,120 --> 00:04:22,680 Speaker 1: to ensure fairness and cohesion, I'd love to hear about it. 62 00:04:23,480 --> 00:04:27,000 Speaker 1: You can let me know at Laura at Laura Vanderkamp 63 00:04:27,440 --> 00:04:31,560 Speaker 1: dot com, and you should also check out Tessa West's 64 00:04:31,640 --> 00:04:35,880 Speaker 1: new book, Jerks at Work. I hope your workplace has 65 00:04:35,960 --> 00:04:40,159 Speaker 1: no such problems, but hey, we live in the real world. 66 00:04:41,520 --> 00:04:46,560 Speaker 1: In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and 67 00:04:46,640 --> 00:04:56,240 Speaker 1: here's to making the most of our time. Hey, everybody, 68 00:04:56,400 --> 00:04:58,520 Speaker 1: I'd love to hear from you. You can send me 69 00:04:58,560 --> 00:05:02,200 Speaker 1: your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just connect with 70 00:05:02,240 --> 00:05:06,640 Speaker 1: me on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at Before Breakfast Pod 71 00:05:07,320 --> 00:05:11,640 Speaker 1: that's B the number four, then Breakfast p o D. 72 00:05:12,520 --> 00:05:15,360 Speaker 1: You can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast 73 00:05:15,440 --> 00:05:18,799 Speaker 1: podcast at i heeart media dot com that Before Breakfast 74 00:05:18,960 --> 00:05:21,599 Speaker 1: is spelled out with all the letters. Thanks so much, 75 00:05:21,720 --> 00:05:29,839 Speaker 1: I look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is 76 00:05:29,839 --> 00:05:33,080 Speaker 1: a production of I heart Radio. For more podcasts from 77 00:05:33,080 --> 00:05:37,120 Speaker 1: I heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, 78 00:05:37,360 --> 00:05:39,240 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.