Address a team member who isn't contributing their share
When to use
Someone on your team is consistently contributing less than others.
What you'll get
A visibility and role-clarity diagnosis, and a conversation opener that addresses the structural issue without framing it as a character judgment.
The prompt
A team member [ROLE] is contributing less than others on [PROJECT / TEAM]. What I've observed: [DESCRIPTION]. My current explanation: [YOUR CURRENT THINKING].
Before concluding this is a motivation or attitude problem, check two things with me:
- Is this person's contribution actually visible? Research consistently shows that when individual effort is identifiable — when others can see what each person is doing — contribution levels increase significantly. When it's invisible, they drop. Does this person get direct, specific feedback on what they contribute? Do others see when they've done something vs. not?
- Does this person know clearly what they are personally responsible for, as distinct from what the group owns collectively? Shared responsibility with no individual ownership diffuses accountability below anyone's threshold to act on it.
Assess both with me. Then draft a conversation opener that addresses the visibility or clarity issue directly, without framing it as a character judgment about their attitude or work ethic.Why this prompt works
The conversation this prompt produces is structurally different from a motivation conversation — and that difference matters. Social loafing responds to structure changes; it doesn't respond to pressure.
The psychology behind this
Social Loafing
Read the full experiment →26_social_loafing.mdThe Fundamental Attribution Error
Read the full experiment →17_fundamental_attribution_error.md