Think of the number of ways your co-workers can mess you up, and then just call in sick and hide.  You might be waiting for them to deliver something and they always miss deadlines.  And, when they actually deliver, they don’t really deliver the work that was promised.  They give you errors because they often guess, they don’t double-check their work for accuracy and sometimes they just give you stuff that is completely made up.

So, how do deal with this? 

Diagnose it
You need to understand what’s really going on. Is it a short term problem, long term, is it too much work, a health issue, family issue, or are they de-motivated, maybe even just stupid – yes, sounds politically incorrect, but there are stupid people out there – just do your best to make sure you don’t have more of them around than is fair.

Be direct
The best approach is to go to the source and confront the issues.  It should take place in a relaxed and  informal, private setting and you should do everything you can to be calms and diplomatic.  Don’t accuse or blame.  Use good examples.  Do not start with, “You stupid-ass, look what you’ve done again.”

Protect Yourself from sabotage
It’s possible that they’re trying help you get fired and they are intentionally making mistakes to undermine you or take credit for your work. If this is true, immediately buy pepper spray and keep an eye on your shoulder.

If it keeps happening, it’s because you let it happen – maybe even encourage it.  If you’re in charge, you need to fix it.  If you’re suffering from it, you need to get your managers to fix it.  If you’re communicating properly and it isn’t intentional, your co-worker needs to fix it.

Bottom line is getting it fixed.