STRATEGY

Deciding whether to complain about a peer's performance is a tough call. Even if your gripes are entirely justified and your supervisor supports you, you can end up being viewed as a backstabber. So, pick your fights carefully. If someone simply rubs you the wrong way, that's your problem. The only time it's worth entering these dangerous waters is when someone's sloppy work or procrastination is jeopardizing your ability to get your job done, and you've already tried, unsuccessfully, to set things right. Your goal in this script is to enlist your supervisor's direct intervention without incurring criticism yourself. You want to minimize any damage to your reputation and avoid being labeled the supervisor's spy. You can accomplish all this as long as you stress the connection to your own productivity and the company's goals. Make it clear that this is an unusual situation, not your common practice.

TACTICS

• Attitude: Your first loyalty must be to the company. It's by following this credo that you'll achieve your own success. You aren't putting someone down to boost yourself—you're helping the company achieve its goals.
• Preparation: Make sure you've established what you feel is the problem—quality, or delay, for instance—and that you've tried on your own to resolve the situation.
• Timing: The timing here is tricky. You want to wait long enough so that action is vital, but not so long that it's a crisis beyond repair.

  
  

• Behavior: Show remorse at having to take this step but offer no apologies. You have the company's goals at heart and there's no shame in that.

ADAPTATIONS

This script can be modified to:

• Get feedback from your supervisor on your team's or your own recent performance.

KEY POINTS

• The company comes first.
• First try to solve the issue on your own.
• Don't wait so long the problem is irreparable.
• Show remorse, but don't apologize.