My impression is exactly the same as Baron Greenback’s. The guy is probably in a still-drunk/hungover haze most days. He is coherent enough to make excuses and ask for extensions, but too foggy to do any actual work.
I barely managed to open this thread after noticing it days ago.
I used to work with a guy like that. I was trying to get him promoted to my job, but he wouldn’t ever do anything to justify his worth. I gave him a task, and later the PM came by and told me he caught him sleeping. Another time he kept putting off another task because he spent all his time scanning D&D books.
He managed to get on disability for depression after he was let go. He had stopped taking his meds, probably because he preferred to live on government handouts than do actual work.
I have a relative who does that all the time. Here’s the events of Halloween:
At 3 pm on 10/31, she shouted “Oh crap! I have to carve pumpkins for Halloween!” A full hour passed before she actually got up to do that. That iPad, man, it’s a cruel master.
But of course they had planned to arrive at a Halloween event at 4 pm, so naturally they were late to that. She didn’t tell her son to start putting his costume on until after the pumpkins were carved, and he needs to be told everything four times before he will actually do it.
At 2 pm, I had asked her about putting up the canopy and getting the fire pit ready. It’s a two person job, so I needed her participation if she wanted my help but she “didn’t have enough time” (damn that iPad!)
At 6:30 pm, though, she says “It’s kind of cold and wet out here” - it’s Seattle! Hello?! - “maybe we should put up the canopy and get the fire pit going? Oh, never mind, there’s not enough time.”
There’s no substance abuse that I know of. Possibly depression is involved, but this is a lifelong trait for her, and her son has clearly been taught to be the same way. He knows full well that if he ignores you, there’s a 75% chance you’ll forget to make him do it anyway. I hear from people she works with that it’s different when she’s on the job, but her personal life happens a day late and a dollar short.
Are you willing to elaborate at all about the details, or at least the category (ADHD? Depression? Addiction? ) of the issues?
I had an employee once who met all these criteria. One conversation with the System Admin made it clear: Internet addiction. (Interestingly, not porn. Just random web surfing.) He just couldn’t stay off of it. He really meant to, I’m convinced he wanted to, but he couldn’t. I even tried having his access turned off. We then found him in a conference room, hooked up to a personal laptop and surfing again. He had brought it in “just for lunch time” and I believe that was his intent. But like so many of us, he lost track of time and spent the afternoon lost in goodness knows what.
I had put him in touch with the EAP to get counseling, all sorts of things. I really wish his doctor or his counselor would have put him off on disability so that he had more time to address the problem. But in the end it was clear that the hours he’d spent on the Web were also charged hours on his timesheet, and that was the kicker. That’s stealing, no more leeway. Nothing else I could do for him.
Oh, heck yeah, I have at least one student like that every semester. They nod, smile, agree to deadlines, and promise, but they never deliver. The current one claims to have an astonishing variety of medical issues (a bad knee AND kidney problems AND a seizure disorder AND lupus AND pneumonia AND a mass on her lung), at least some of which are legit, but it’s gotten to the point where I have no idea at all what’s real and what’s excuse-making.
Suffered from that a bit myself once (posting on this board was actually part of the habit at that time). I eventually asked my boss if I could swap desks - I chose one where my screen was overlooked by a dozen people, and anyone who walked into the department - end of problem.
If you ever read the book “Without Conscience” by Robert D. Hare* some of the things displayed (misrepresenting, living beyond means, borrowing money that will not be paid back, inability to hold a job for very long) suggest a touch of the psycopath.
Although substance abuse is probably the answer.
*Which was recommended by members of this board. Thank You!
Prior to swapping desks, did you feel you had enough work to do? I’m just curious because I’ve had private offices and I get more work done without the distractions and interruptions. But I also had a lot of work to do.
I’m going to add my name to the list of people saying that this guy is on drugs. And has been for a long time.