Steva Robbins here. Welcome to the Get It Done guys quick and dirty tips to work less and do more.

Ruby calls in.

Hey, Steve, this is Ruby from El Paso, Texas. I have an issue with a coworker.

She doesn't do her part of the work and leads me to having more work to do during the day.

When we try to tell my boss office, she just gets angry that we're tattletelling, even though we're

adults, and it seems like it should be the right thing to do.

What can I do to help this coworker finish her work so that I don't have to pick up the

fleck? Thanks.

Ruby, if your boss is really using words like tattletail, then you know someone's not thinking

like an adult, and it's not you. Your boss has regressed to third grade, only she's put

herself in the role of teacher. But she's not. She's a team leader, and she doesn't realize

that. I'm an ex-engineer geek who's stuck in my head. I have the emotional

intelligence of a peanut, and since my coping mechanisms are limited to denial and detachment,

let's get all hyper-rational about this. First, take a good, hard look at yourself and make sure

your boss isn't right. If you're going to her because you're scared to talk to your co-worker,

or because you want to punish your co-worker, she's right. Even If you're going to her because you're scared to talk to your coworker, or because

you want to punish your co-worker, she's right, even if she's expressing it in third-grade

language. Only go to her if you can't fix things on your own. Talk to your coworker. Don't blame.

That will just get her defensive, and if she's a psychopath, she'll spend the next 15 years

pretending to be your friend while secretly orchestrating your untimely death in a truly unfortunate Kalimari

incident. Instead, explain your issues with her in terms of your needs and the group's needs.

This is where you can offer help. Bernice, we'll call her Bernice. Next week is the deadline for

...