Is this a familiar lament in your office? These "things" can range from the mundane, like cleaning the dishes in the break room, to more strategic things, like a website overhaul or marketing campaign.

Here are some reasons why "things" are left undone, along with some suggestions on how to fix them.

Laziness

A person is just too lazy to do something and feels someone else will do it if he ignores it long enough.

Suggestion: Assign the task to a particular person with incremental deadlines for steps in the task; let the person know why you assigned that task to him, whether it's a particular talent or skill or interest.

Let him know there are tangible consequences to missing deadlines, and then be firm in implementing those consequences at the first missed deadline. No exceptions. You're setting a precedent for future behavior.

Ego

A person assigned to the task might be too embarrassed to admit he doesn't know how to do something if he finds it too threatening for his fragile ego. Conversely, the person's ego may be so inflated as to think the task is beneath him and lesser people of intellect or position should have been assigned that chore.

Suggestion: For the ignorant-and-embarrassed person, don't ask, "Do you know how to do this?" as it will elicit an immediate "of course," followed by ... nothing. With that person, you have to ask instead, "How would you go about doing this?" with you then outlining or demonstrating the procedure as you would like it performed.

Different tactic for the superior person with an inflated ego: Play up her skills as the one to do the job the best and perhaps ask her to train others in this task; use her ego to get the job done.

Minimal effort

This person has frequently spent his life perfecting the least effort needed to "get by." Minimal effort, minimal expectations for his own contributions.

Suggestion: Start laying on additional responsibilities and expectations beyond the minimum. Chart a path for future growth and advancement. Assure this person that you have confidence in his successfully taking on additional responsibilities and mentor him on this growth path.

Procrastination

A person thinks he can do it later, tomorrow or never. And possibly, if he waits long enough, either someone else will do it, or management will have changed their minds and not need it done at all. I have seen this frequently in large bureaucracies.

Suggestion: As with the lazy person, set firm task deadlines with tangible repercussions for missing deadlines and hold firm.

Decision paralysis

Some have a fear of making the wrong choice and looking stupid or getting into trouble, so they make no decision at all.

Suggestion: Help this person analyze the pros/cons of all options and support her in their critical analysis and decision-making skills. Start small and work to bigger decisions. Remind her that there is seldom one perfect option but one best among many. And as long as she can explain her rationale for her decision, you will support her in that decision.

If you ultimately disagree with her choice, explain your analysis of what factors you had considered in making a different choice. But under no circumstances do you tell someone to make a decision and then criticize that decision because she will quickly learn that it doesn't pay to make decisions at all. You'll get the opposite behavior of what you want.

Sabotage

This can be done either accidentally through apathy or purposefully through passive-aggressive rebellion.

Accidental or purposeful sabotage happens when someone pretends to have a buy-in into the implementation of a decision, but covertly disagrees, or says they don't care when they do. Rather than be upfront about the disagreement, they quietly work behind the scenes to sabotage the decision — miss deadlines, communicate poorly or not at all, and foment dissent.

Suggestion: When a decision is made, it's critical to get everyone's buy-in, even if they disagreed with the decision or said the decision and its outcome didn't matter to them. Give them a voice in the implementation and let them know they're welcome to monitor the implementation, note any obstacles to its success, and to suggest alternative options.

Once you give someone an assignment to monitor and criticize and suggest improvements, he now has an investment and can vocalize. The more he can openly criticize and suggest alternatives, the more of an investment he has in the implementation. And the more vocal he is, the more you can deal openly and honestly with objections and, just maybe, improve the final result.