Chief Counsel: Set Deadline Expectations Early and Stick to Them
Special to Roll Call
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Q: Many of our staffers do not meet deadlines or ignore them entirely. Is this a generational thing? How can my staff think this is OK? What can I do about it?
A: The jury is still out on the differences between boomers, Xers and Yers (also known as millennials). Articles on the millennial generation point to the coddled and protected nature of their upbringing as the reason for their need for constant positive reinforcement and self-fulfillment. The concepts of being grateful for just having a job and needing to “serve your time” may not resonate with this generation. In fact, the idea of tenure and loyalty are foreign to millennials, who want to live very differently from their boomer parents. Whether these attitudes can be explained by generational differences or something else, there is a lot that you can do to increase the likelihood of your junior staffers meeting deadlines and engaging in their work.
Confront the Issue Head-On
Because this challenge is justifiably baffling to many chiefs of staff, you may be tempted to avoid the necessary conversation. It is important that every time they miss deadlines to confront staff to try to uncover the cause. Was the deadline unclear? Did she not understand the assignment? Is he having difficulty prioritizing assignments, missing some deadlines while focusing on other projects? How many people are assigning work and how is the staffer prioritizing the competing priorities? By discussing these issues directly, you may uncover problems that are easy to fix and enable your staff to make different decisions going forward.
At the same time, I hear from chiefs who are baffled by the lack of responsiveness when they do confront staff. One chief told me that staff members simply shrug their shoulders or say they forgot, leaving her dumbfounded. In these cases, it is worth considering your hiring methods to better identify those high achievers who take projects to completion and to analyze the overall culture and norms of your office.
Evaluate Your Office Culture
This issue of meeting deadlines may be more broadly approached as accountability. How much emphasis does your office culture put on accountability? Do staff and the Member follow through on commitments you make to one another? Does your office use nebulous language like “I’ll try” or “I’ll see” that circumvents accountability, as opposed to affirmative language like “I will”? You and the Member should be role models for the behavior you want to see and think about how your own responsiveness to staff might influence office culture. Remember, no one’s behavior in the office is scrutinized more than your own. Take a hard look at the indirect messages you are sending to staff by not overcommitting and following through on their expectations.
Clearly Communicate Expectations
I probably sound like a broken record, but clearly communicating your expectations of staff will influence many behaviors. Research shows that over 60 percent of employees do not know what is expected at work, so obviously this point has not achieved broad adoption. Not only must you look at how clearly you are communicating deadlines, but also your expectation for meeting them. Staff members need to understand what the deadlines are and the consequences for missing them. And when a deadline is overlooked, are you following through with the consequences? Are you promoting and rewarding staff members who meet deadlines and dismissing people who do not? Again, how are you reinforcing this culture of accountability?
Get Buy-In
A deadline should be an agreement, not an imposition. In other words, when you are assigning deadlines to a staffer, view it as a joint decision.
An imposed deadline might go this way:
Chief of staff: We need to eliminate our mail backlog during August recess.
Legislative director: OK.
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