How to Address a Teammate Who Isn’t Pulling Their Weight—With Professional Poise

In every workplace, there are moments when a teammate isn’t carrying their share of the load.

❌ A common—but harmful—reaction is to snap: “𝙔𝙤𝙪’𝙧𝙚 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙪𝙨 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙠 𝙗𝙖𝙙. 𝙎𝙩𝙚𝙥 𝙪𝙥!”

But a poised professional takes a different path.

✅ Instead, you can say: “𝙄 𝙣𝙤𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙚𝙙 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙢𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙗𝙚 𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙡𝙢𝙚𝙙. 𝘾𝙖𝙣 𝙬𝙚 𝙙𝙞𝙨𝙘𝙪𝙨𝙨 𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙬𝙚 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙨𝙪𝙥𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪?”

This thoughtful statement anchors your professional manners, protects team morale, and elevates your workplace presence.

💡 Remember: Consistently choosing your words with wisdom shows maturity, emotional intelligence, and leadership.

🔄 Over to you: How 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝗮 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗳𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝗲𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗱? Share your experience in the comments so others can learn from you.

Keep being the embodiment of right professional manners in the workplace.

— Damilola Oluwafemi

𝙀𝙩𝙞𝙦𝙪𝙚𝙩𝙩𝙚, 𝙄𝙢𝙖𝙜𝙚 & 𝙒𝙤𝙧𝙠𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙘𝙚 𝙋𝙚𝙧𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝘾𝙤𝙖𝙘𝙝