2. The Crisis-Maker
Common characteristics
• This individual tends to get overly excited and anxious about the smallest things.
• Everything is an emergency. If a crisis doesn’t exist, they will create one just to get an adrenaline rush.
Although crisis-makers often appear to be the most productive people in the office, they tend to drive everyone around them crazy, which results in even more loss of productivity.
Cause of behavior
Crisis-makers crave attention and have a need to be needed. They typically have time-management issues and like being the one who solves the problem at the last minute.
Ways to improve productivity
Crisis-makers need to realize that not every project or situation is necessarily a rush job. “In managing these employees, supervisors should clearly communicate the level of priority different projects will require,” Young says. “If the manager notices that the rush is coming on, he or she should attempt to slow this person down.”
With a supervisor’s help, crisis-makers also should work on identifying which personal needs are being met through their behavior, says Dominguez. For example, she says the issues behind getting acknowledged for saving the day need to be explored. “The employer needs to ask, ‘OK, how should we work on this?’” Dominguez says. “‘Your current set of behaviors are not working for me, you or the team.’ ”
“The manager needs to get them to see how their actions are counterproductive,” she adds. “Then you can get into the discussion of what are some alternative ways to accomplish their tasks.”
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