Perfectionists at work are very easily identified. They devote themselves diligently to each task and spend many hours of overtime fine-tuning every minute detail. Such people will never say "It's fine", just to have a project over and done with. Do you have a perfectionist in your working team? Or is that person even you yourself? The Management Issues website has dealt with this issue, explaining why working with a perfectionist in a team is not always good news.
Do you personally have to manage any stickler for detail? Do not rejoice too soon. Working with a perfectionist can be harmonious - if you are a perfectionist yourself. On the other hand, it has its pitfalls. Excessive anxiety due to banalities may even lead to a missed deadline. How ironic. Probably in the end you will receive a meticulous piece of work but imagine, for example, a web-designer handling the new look of a corporate website. If he or she is a perfectionist, you may find that work will start only when he or she gets the perfect vision. This could take a while.
Perfectionists are not easy to change but, given time, you can learn how to manage them effectively.
1. Be careful whom you assign to them in a team. Do not expect them to slow down the pace with a new inexperienced colleague. Ideally, the team needs the same active type as they themselves are.
2. A very difficult task for them is the role of a project manager. They can hardly manage anyone else. In addition, if you have a short deadline with no time to tune details, do not ask a perfectionist to handle work that is good but not perfect. Rather divide tasks among other team members or completely outsource.
This article, however, does not want to discourage you from accepting perfectionists into your team. Far from it. You just have to learn how to manage such people and entrust someone else in the team with responsibility for the time management of any project. Your reward will come. Accept the challenge!
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