Everybody has had a time working on a team with a freeloader.  Dead weight.  Leech.  Moocher.  Whatever you want to call it, you have a team member who just doesn’t do her share of the work, or perhaps worse, does the work so sloppily that it’s no good to anyone.

The question is, whose problem is it?

Secretly, we all want this to be a “manager” problem.  That way, we avoid confrontation, but in return, we gain frustration, anger, and irritation.  I include myself in this category.  I’ve been known to rant at the dinner table, where I can safely vent to my family outside the realm of the office.  My mother is the type of person who works double duty and reasons, “That’s just the way she is.”  My best friend likes to make sarcastic jokes about the person that have nothing to do with the issue at hand.  And I’ve had co-workers who form silent coalitions against a single teammate, complaining about the freeloader over lunch.

“I just need to vent,” we reason.  “Then I’ll get on with my day.”

We are lying to ourselves.

Freeloaders are a team problem, and that means all teammates have to take responsibility for their actions.  Complaining, making up for others, or poking fun doesn’t help you and it doesn’t help the freeloader.  What does help is talking to them about the issue, straight to their face.

It’s not the most comfortable situation.  Every time I’ve sat down to talk to a non-contributing team member – whether as a manager or just a fellow teammate – it’s caused me stress.  However, each time the talk has surprised me.  Oftentimes, a supposed “freeloader” needs a little guidance.  It might be her first time at a new task, and she’s just at a loss as to how to accomplish her goals.  Some of them don’t realize their teammates even think they’re freeloading, and just telling them lights a fire under their ass.  I’d talked to people going through miscarriages and family deaths, attributing to their sudden change in behavior.

But no matter what the reason behind the problem, I have always been able to sit down, help the person with a plan of action on how to get back to being a contributing team member, and made my own work situation much less stressful.

Why shouldn’t you confront a freeloader?  The most common reason – “I hate conflict.  I’d rather just avoid it.”

But if a freeloader distracts you from your main work, if you spend a lot of cycles worrying about it, or if it consumes your waking hours, you’re creating conflict.  It’s just conflict for yourself.  And you’re building more conflict the longer you let it go.

-Deborah Fike

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