~by Haley Lynn Gray~
Managing people is really about managing personalities — and conflicting interests. It means working out what motivates each person, and how to get the work done to the standard it needs.
That can be genuinely hard, especially with the work nobody finds exciting.
The tedious work problem
Think about data entry. Updating records. Writing reports. Reconciling numbers. It all has to be done, and most people find it mind-numbing.
Different people handle it differently, but most will procrastinate, or quietly prioritise more interesting work until the tedious task is overdue.
The traditional advice is to help people understand why it matters, then hold them accountable for doing it. That helps. But after years of trying, I’ve found two answers that work far better.
1. Hire people who don’t mind doing it
People are genuinely different. Some find detailed, repetitive, precise work satisfying. They like getting things exactly right and leaving everything orderly.
Trying to motivate someone who hates detail work into loving it is exhausting for both of you. Hiring someone who’s naturally suited to it is far easier.
So when you’re filling a role that’s heavy on tedious tasks, say so honestly in the job description, and ask in the interview how people feel about that kind of work. Look for the person whose eyes light up rather than glaze over. They exist, and they’re worth their weight in gold.
2. Automate as much of it as possible
The other answer, and increasingly the better one, is to stop asking people to do it at all.
That’s what I do now. A great deal of the data entry, reporting and repetitive admin that used to take hours can be automated — through good software, connected systems, and more and more through AI tools.
That changes the management problem completely. You’re no longer trying to motivate someone to do something they dread. You’re freeing them to do work that actually uses their judgement. That’s the most useful thing AI does for a small business.
A good question to ask about any recurring task: does a person really need to do this? If the answer is no, automate it. If it’s yes, give it to someone who’s suited to it.
Managing everything else
Not every personality clash is about tedious work. A few things that help more broadly:
Learn what each person actually wants. Some want recognition. Some want flexibility. Some want to learn, some want stability, some want to be left alone to get on with it. Ask — don’t assume.
Be clear about the standard. Most conflict comes from unclear expectations, not difficult people.
Match people to work. The same task can energise one person and drain another. People do their best work where they’re happiest, so arrange the work around that wherever you can.
Deal with friction early. Small irritations between people grow if they’re ignored. A short conversation now saves a much harder one later.
The short version
You can spend a lot of energy trying to make people enjoy work they’re not suited to. Or you can put the right people on the right work, and automate the rest.
The second approach is easier on everyone, and it produces better results.
