WEBVTT - Do fairness checks

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.

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<v Speaker 1>Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.

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<v Speaker 1>Today's tip is to do fairness checks, particularly at work,

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<v Speaker 1>but in any situation where you've got team projects you

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<v Speaker 1>want to make sure that everyone feels like you are

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<v Speaker 1>pulling together. Regular fairness checks are a great way to

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<v Speaker 1>figure that out. Today's tip comes from Tessa West's new

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<v Speaker 1>book Jerks at Work, Toxic co Workers and What to

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<v Speaker 1>Do About Them. This guide to handling difficult colleagues helps

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<v Speaker 1>people with the messy reality that not everyone is automatically

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<v Speaker 1>great to work with, but when we still need to

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<v Speaker 1>get stuff done, there's a lot we can do to

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<v Speaker 1>improve the situation. One of the most common kinds of

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<v Speaker 1>toxic co workers is the free rider. You no doubt

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<v Speaker 1>remember this character from your school days, when the group

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<v Speaker 1>project meant you and maybe one other person did all

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<v Speaker 1>the work, and the free riders were nowhere to be

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<v Speaker 1>found until it was time to collect the good grades or,

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<v Speaker 1>in the workplace version, get credit with the boss. The

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<v Speaker 1>problem with free riders is not just that they are annoying,

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<v Speaker 1>though of course they are. It's that we soon have

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<v Speaker 1>a tragedy of the Commons situation. If free riders keep

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<v Speaker 1>getting away with their free rides, other folks who might

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<v Speaker 1>have been more diligent notice the lack of accountability, so

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<v Speaker 1>they put their attention elsewhere. Tessa notes that in groups,

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<v Speaker 1>fairness applies to how jobs are decided, who does what,

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<v Speaker 1>how rewards are determined, and how anal decisions are made.

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<v Speaker 1>When procedures aren't fair, people aren't set up to contribute

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<v Speaker 1>evenly to the group, and slacking spreads. So she recommends

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<v Speaker 1>a two part fairness check. She says that you can

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<v Speaker 1>start this process at any time during group decision making.

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<v Speaker 1>Part one at the beginning of a project is to

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<v Speaker 1>have the team make a list together of what each

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<v Speaker 1>team member's tasks are for that time period. This ensures

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<v Speaker 1>task visibility, Tessa rights. Then Part two happens periodically. You

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<v Speaker 1>have team members complete a short survey that checks on

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<v Speaker 1>each person's progress. Tessa recommends four questions. First, which items

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<v Speaker 1>did you complete from your list? Second? Did you face

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<v Speaker 1>any unexpected hurdles for example, did some tasks take longer

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<v Speaker 1>than anticipated? Third, did you do any extra work you

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<v Speaker 1>didn't plan for? If so, what was the extra work?

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<v Speaker 1>And four, did you notice anyone else on the team

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<v Speaker 1>doing extra work. I really love this last question because

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<v Speaker 1>many people might be hesitant to complain about stepping in

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<v Speaker 1>and helping a colleague. You do have to keep seeing

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<v Speaker 1>your coworker in the halls and such, but people are

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<v Speaker 1>more likely to report it if they notice someone else

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<v Speaker 1>doing it. The surface result is giving another team member

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<v Speaker 1>a gold star. The more important result is that if

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<v Speaker 1>lots of people are earning gold stars for doing someone

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<v Speaker 1>else's work, you can see that you have a problem.

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<v Speaker 1>Tessa writes that these four questions act as a vitals check.

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<v Speaker 1>They allow you to test the health of the team

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<v Speaker 1>and detect any warning signs of free riding behavior. Well,

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<v Speaker 1>it's nice if your boss can be on board with

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<v Speaker 1>the fairness checks. Teams can obviously do this on their own. Indeed,

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<v Speaker 1>you should all take turns being the checker and enjoy

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<v Speaker 1>the moment when the known free rider is in charge

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<v Speaker 1>of the survey. It can be eye opening for all involved.

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<v Speaker 1>If your teams have come up with a good way

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<v Speaker 1>to ensure fairness and cohesion, I'd love to hear about it.

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<v Speaker 1>You can let me know at Laura at Laura Vanderkamp

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<v Speaker 1>dot com, and you should also check out Tessa West's

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<v Speaker 1>new book, Jerks at Work. I hope your workplace has

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<v Speaker 1>no such problems, but hey, we live in the real world.

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<v Speaker 1>In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and

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<v Speaker 1>here's to making the most of our time. Hey, everybody,

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<v Speaker 1>I'd love to hear from you. You can send me

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<v Speaker 1>your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just connect with

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<v Speaker 1>me on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at Before Breakfast Pod

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<v Speaker 1>that's B the number four, then Breakfast p o D.

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<v Speaker 1>You can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast

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<v Speaker 1>podcast at i heeart media dot com that Before Breakfast

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<v Speaker 1>is spelled out with all the letters. Thanks so much,

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<v Speaker 1>I look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is

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<v Speaker 1>a production of I heart Radio. For more podcasts from

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