One lazy worker drags whole team down
June 28th, 2011 - 10:22 pm ICT by IANSSydney, June 28 (IANS) Just having a single lazy person at work can drag down a high performing team.
Benjamin Walker, doctoral student at the Australian School of Business (ASB), is studying the impact of a single “difficult personality” member on a team’s effectiveness.
“It can be someone who isn’t proactive, someone who only does the minimum amount of work, or someone who is just plain disinterested in the job at hand,” Walker said.
“It really does show that one bad apple in the barrel can spoil it for everyone else. It was previously thought that the average level of a personality trait - such as conscientiousness in a team - defined its success,” said Walker, according to an ASB statement.
“However conscientiousness has two sides to it: one is discipline and a need for achievement and the other is being painstaking and careful,” he said.
“Even if the rest of the team is generally pulling their weight, they won’t be able to compensate for that member and they won’t be happy about it,” he added.
The study involved 158 students, divided into 33 teams, and examined how the dedication and hard work of individual team members affected the work of the entire group, concentrating on how just one member can influence the group.
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Tags: asb, bad apple, benjamin walker, conscientiousness, dedication, discipline, doctoral student, individual team, job, lazy person, lazy worker, personality trait, proactive, school of business, sydney, team members