You might have noticed in your local medical centre a sign announcing the – usually large – number of people who missed appointments in the last month or some other period.

This is intended to encourage patients to ring and cancel an appointment so that someone else may have it. The effect may very well be the opposite as the better behaved could infer that those failing to cancel appointments get away with it. The ultimate outcome is possibly a lowering of standards – and maybe even an increasing number of wasted appointments.

If you manage a team in which some members are less productive, think twice before sending out a note to everybody on the lines of ‘It has come to my attention that some people are ……….’ You might find that the group’s overall effort falls to the lowest common denominator.

It is better to isolate the poor performers and deal with them separately. For example, if you realise that some incoming phone calls are not being answered as promptly by your own staff as those in the virtual offices in other locations then ascertain which particular department or individual is responsible. Deal with the minimum number of people to maintain morale and hence standards amongst the rest.

This way, the efficiency of the rest of the staff should remain equal to that of those in the virtual offices and that of the others should be corrected.

This little bit of psychology may take just a little more effort but will be more productive.