Why someone might practise ghostworking
There are numerous reasons why someone might pretend to be working. According to surveys cited by FastCompany, occasional ghostworking affects up to half of employees. Perhaps surprisingly, laziness accounts for only a negligible percentage of cases: in the vast majority of instances, the cause lies in deeper, structural issues.
It is often a manifestation of procrastination, namely a compulsive postponement of responsibilities. For one reason or another, an employee is reluctant to tackle a difficult task, so they do something else instead of working. Sometimes, the employee simply has nothing to do and doesn't want to admit it.
What the manager is likely doing wrong
Employees should not feel the need to lie about whether or not they have tasks to complete. They should never be afraid to tell their manager that they have free capacity for work. Many fear the manager will overload them or think they are not trying hard enough.
The most common managerial mistake, therefore, is poor distribution of work among team members, and a lack of transparent and trusting relationships that would allow open communication about workload.
How to prevent ghostworking among subordinates
Here are a few tips on how to prevent ghostworking:
- Talk openly with your team about their workload. Keep yourself informed about whether one person is overwhelmed while another has little to do.
- Don't overwhelm employees when they have a brief moment of downtime. If someone has free capacity, avoid the temptation immediately to assign them a huge load of tasks.
- Learn to organise team work more effectively. Work organisation is a skill that can help prevent situations like ghostworking.
- Encourage mutual assistance among employees. Motivate team members to support one another and help balance out differences in workload.
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