(no subject)
There is a situation that constantly arises for me in organizing a project, in which the following happens.
1. I take a risk on letting a new, unproven person take on a responsibility, because there are no proven people accepting the job.
2. The new, unproven person starts letting emails from inquirers pile up in their inbox and not respond to them for months. This constitutes "not doing the job" by definition of the job.
3. The inquirers start emailing me and others asking if it is even still happening at all. They begin to drift away. Ill will over the stonewalling starts to accrue in the related community.
4. I find and instate a more-responsive replacement.
This pattern has one of the following results.
A. The ex-coordinator still has all the emails from the inquirers, but is now avoiding everyone out of shame. The ex-coordinator usually turns out to have been doing a lot of secret (and therefore useless) work behind the scenes. That work was useless without passing on that information by answering emails. It also would have been useless work if we had lost all our participants by ignoring them. Now it is worse than useless, because who knows what answers to questions may have already gone out? We now have two conflicting sets of answers.
B. The ex-organizer bounces back assertively, and starts to be very responsive and present. He or she presents a massive amount of behind-the-scenes (read: "useless") work. He or she is usually hurt that I replaced him or her "without notification", despite the fact that trying to communicate to him or her is pointless. The new organizer, being a less assertive personality, doesn't want to fight for the position, and quits. No one can be quite sure who to ask for information, even after being updated repeatedly, because what if it changes again?
Here I am, once again making almost-daily phone calls and emails to an ex-coordinator, who is apparently never going to talk to me again. I am tired of losing friends this way. The common denominator in all of these scenarios has been that I have been the recruiter. What should I do differently?
Comments
infant-phoenix on Aug. 17, 2010 3:45 PM — lay down the law early, not late
When you recruit people, THAT is the time to tell them what your precise expectations are, and if those expectations keep them from wanting the job, they are not right for the job. Period.
matt-arnold on Aug. 17, 2010 4:04 PM — Re: lay down the law early, not late
I consistently do. They wrongly estimate what their availability will be, and then are too busy to resign, so they just stand in the way by failing to resign.
Oddly, I have gotten pushback on my tendency to establish expectations up front, as if everyone is born understanding expectations through some kind of mind-reading power.
infant-phoenix on Aug. 17, 2010 4:28 PM — Re: lay down the law early, not late
Well, I don't know, but maybe it's just in the way you do it.
Sorry, I can't be more useful, some things can only be communicated in person....
But, I will say, the way you say and do things makes as much of a difference as what you say and do. As for what the "right" way is? Like I said, hard to communicate in writing.
desfontaines on Aug. 17, 2010 3:56 PM
I have no suggestions, but I do offer my sympathies. Situations like this suck. :(
nicegeek on (None)
nicegeek on Aug. 17, 2010 4:47 PM
It's very difficult to herd volunteers, because the only leverage you really have on them is social pressure, which it's tricky to apply successfully without impacting any friendship that might exist.
That said, the situation can be mitigated somewhat by getting an affirmative commitment from the person to complete the task, and then doing regular status checks, starting well before any deadlines. Use the question "When should I check back with you to see how (task X) went?" Make sure that they understand that being communicative about their status is actually more important than doing the job itself (some people need to be told this repeatedly). If they miss a deadline, ask them what you can do to help make sure the task gets done by the time it needs to be done. If they miss a deadline more than once or twice, prepare a "Plan B" (i.e. try to line another person up to take the task if necessary).
Few people will pro-actively resign responsibilities when they get over-committed; it's the job of a supervisor to see the warning flags, and then ask the person if they're sure they can still commit to completing the task on time. If they aren't sure, explain that you really need someone who can, and offer them the option of committing or backing away. Do your best to make sure they understand that it's not personal; it's just that Task X needs to be done by Time Y, or Bad Thing Z will happen.
Also, never use public humiliation or guilt as motivators. That inevitably leads to hard feelings.
tlatoani on Aug. 17, 2010 5:15 PM
Regular status meetings or phone calls. Email isn't a substitute. And do them on a schedule: every other Friday or something. That way you get early warning if they're failing, and can get additional resources involved or narrow their responsibilities accordingly.
Once you know someone can and will do the job, you can have rarer meetings or just check in by email. But until then, get on a schedule with them.
Don't just throw the task over the wall, and don't have the checkins at group meetings where embarrassment is a factor and they'll be more motivated to hide problems.
atropis on Aug. 17, 2010 5:35 PM
so there's a part in there where you find a more-responsive replacement. why not skip the first several steps, and go straight to this part?
matt-arnold on Aug. 17, 2010 6:22 PM
Basically I should just wait until I find the more responsive replacement. This is always far too late for anyone's comfort, and I'm risking the project never taking off at all, but yeah. Excellent advice. I am gradually arriving at an attitude in which it is better that the project not happen than it happen like this.
gizelnort on (None)
matt-arnold on Aug. 17, 2010 6:20 PM
FUCKING BRILLIANT.
sorcycat on Aug. 18, 2010 3:46 AM
I meant to suggest google groups when I saw some of the email traffic this week...
Anonymous on (None)
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