Incompetency is defined as not having enough ability to perform or carry out tasks, objectives or a job effectively.

Incompetency can be a huge issue when you’re trying to build and strengthen a team, especially in the workplace. Leaders must be competent and efficient in their skills and be able to lead and manage a team successful.

The Effect of Incompetent Team Members

However, it’s not only the incompetency of leaders and managers that can affect a team, but also co-workers who are not performing to the best of their ability. Dealing with an incompetent co-worker, can make a big difference between the competency of a leader too. If handled well, a manager can deal with the situation positively, thus strengthening the team. However, if handled badly, then it could have a derogative effect on the individuals involved.

In the professional working place, there will be lots of team-based activities and tasks that mean all members of staff must be at the top of their game. Like a game of Jenga, if one piece is taken out or in unsteady, then the whole tower will fall. Incompetent team members can slow down projects, affect morale negatively and start having a derogative effect on other members of staff and the business as a whole.

How to Deal with Incompetency in the Workplace

As a leader you should offer your help to those who aren’t performing well. It’s important to be a vital confidant to your team members and to give advice and assistance whenever they need it.

If a member of your team isn’t performing well, you should consider whether it’s the position that they’re in that’s causing them to falter. If you’ve given members of your team responsibilities and tasks, then maybe it would be good to switch up the roles and see where other people’s strengths lie. You could also create new roles that help push individual strengths and skills – you never know what a person could contribute, especially if they’ve been forced to subvert other attributes, they could give, because of a certain role they’ve been given. Switch it up a bit and see how the dynamics of the team change for the better.

Confront the Incompetency

The best way to face a problem is to confront it and this should be no different when dealing with workplace incompetency. The individual who’s deliberately turning up late, absent during key meetings and not making any effort towards a task or project should be made aware of their negligence towards their job. Confronting your employee could put them back on the right path, but it’s important to keep the discussion formal, private and as professional as possible. It may be a time for an employee to share with you what’s really going on and if there’s anything externally affecting their work ethic. From there, you can build a plan with the individual on getting their work back on track, with help from you and team.