"A few years ago, a new colleague was transferred to my team and he had a reputation of not pulling his weight around our company. From the first day working with him, I tried to not let what I had heard about his work ethic cloud my judgment, but it was easy to see over the course of a few days that he simply didn't care enough to keep up his end of the work on our team. Over break one day, I took it upon myself to approach him and talk to him about the work ethic we try to maintain as a team. I used the analogy of one cog being dysfunctional and effecting the entire machine. My approach was personable and professional while also being very direct. Though it did take some time and some additional conversation from other team members, his work picked up over the course of the coming months, and he remains a very high functioning member of our team today."
