Feel like your team's pace has slowed to a shuffle? Or maybe their frustration and discouragement are spreading like a virus? There's a good chance your team is being devoured, right under your nose, by workplace zombies. This infographic details the different types of workplace zombies and how you can bring them back from the un-dead.

1. Stressed, panicked, and at the breaking point, zombies are
invading your workplace and devouring your productivity. Here’s
how to spot them and stop them from spreading...
SYMPTOMS:
Nervous
smiles
Missing
Deliverables
Floundering
Projects
Overwhelmed
Stares
Unreported
Issues
50
of workers say they're under-
staffed, resulting in plenty of
work being done after business
hours
%
50%
of workers say they work
more than 40 hrs/wk
NAME: Newly Infected
Perhaps the most dangerous kind of workplace zombie, this
one doesn’t know or doesn’t want to know it’s been infected.
With this denial comes all sorts of problems.
13
of employees lie to
cover up failed projects,
mistakes, or missed
deadlines
%
CONTAGIOUSNESS:
DAMAGE:
YOUR BEST
WEAPON:
Project
status
tracking
(preferably
real-time)
Heart-to-
heart and a
plate of
fresh-baked
chocolate
chip cookies
SYMPTOMS: Rash of
overdue
tasks
Lost
Requests
CONTAGIOUSNESS:
DAMAGE:
YOUR BEST
WEAPON:
Request
management
tool
At-risk
reports
Adrenaline
shot to the
heart
40
of employees miss
deadlines sometimes
or often
%
CONTAGIOUSNESS:
DAMAGE:
YOUR BEST
WEAPON:
Request
intake
processes
Resource
workload
reports
Free passes
to the day
spa
NAME: The Herd
These zombies never question their workloads, accepting
requests blindly, usually inundated with tasks. They keep
plodding forward, understaffed and overworked, brought to
a near-catatonic state by soul-crushing overtime.
NAME: Crawler
This zombie subverts your team's established processes in the
name of speed and efficiency. Unfortunately, the Crawler's "quick
results" secretly suck up your resources, while luring other
team members to the dark side, making them more contagious
than a cold sore at a New Year’s Eve party in Paris.
SYMPTOMS:
High amounts
of overtime
Depressed
sighs
CONTAGIOUSNESS:
DAMAGE:
YOUR BEST
WEAPON:
Hard rules,
processes and
enforcement
governing use
of resources
Time
out
64of employees say they
ignore processes to get
work done
% SYMPTOMS:
Resources
with guilty
looks on
their faces
and extra work
in their queues
Projects completed
without approval
Eerie
silence
CONTAGIOUSNESS:
DAMAGE:
YOUR BEST
WEAPON:
Well-defined
request
management
and resource
management
processes
Management’s
buy-in
NAME: Howler
The squeaky wheel of workplace zombies, the Howler makes
lots of noise to attract attention to their tasks or issues,
often using political capital to get their way.
42
of employees say
one or two of their
team members
consume most of
their resources
%SYMPTOMS:
“We’ll just
do it to keep
him/her happy”
Resources
sucked away
from justified,
strategic projects
Phone calls or
emails to superiors
outside of the
established process
Lack of justification
or proven alignment
with business objectives
NAME: Thriller
This zombie hides its lack of actual productivity behind a
beguilingly flashy cloak. This cloak usually consists of fudging
numbers and only gets more deceptive in the absence of actual
work data. This zombie is rare but still dangerous.
SYMPTOMS:
Conflicting
data
CONTAGIOUSNESS:
DAMAGE:
YOUR BEST
WEAPON:
Numbers
gathered
consistently
over your
entire team's
work
●Polygraph
test
7of employees admit to
inflating their numbers
to make their
performance look better
%
1 2
3
31HOURS
NAME: Shuffler
Without constant reminders, its neglected work requests can
swell to epic proportions or simply be lost in the chaos. This
negligence spills over into other's work, infecting them with
similar tardiness and frustration.
Lack of
pushback
on requests
Two-week
notices
Dead
Stares
NAME: Shifty
Often by no fault of its own, this workplace zombie darts from
one project to another as priorities shift on a daily basis.
As this pattern continues, this zombie becomes increasingly
dangerous before unexpectedly migrating to another workplace.
NAME: Runner
To cope with its rising workloads, the Runner frantically sends
out flurries of meeting invites and emails and peppers fellow
team members with impromptu visits. The more emails and
meetings they create, the more they infect other team members.
CONTAGIOUSNESS:
DAMAGE:
YOUR BEST
WEAPON:
A work prioriti-
zation process
that everyone
can stick to,
including an
objective score-
card system.
A distraction-free
environment
24%
SYMPTOMS:
Downcast expressions
on the faces of
resources
Falling
productivity
Two-week
notices
A growing backlog
that spreads to
other teams
SYMPTOMS:
Callouses on fingertips
and earsFrantic
Expressions
CONTAGIOUSNESS:
DAMAGE:
YOUR BEST
WEAPON:
Limits on
use of email,
IM, and
meetings
Making
project
activities
visible to
all team
members
Aroma-
therapy
Increased
anxiety levels
among team members
wasted per month
per employee in
unproductive
meetings
304 sent to the
average employee
every week
Floods
of email
BUSINESS
EMAILS
10IQ POINTS
when constantly
fielding emails,
the average
employee loses
when constantly
fielding emails,
the average
employee loses
x
attask.comStop the zombies from invading your office.
Angry
Stakeholders
say their work
priorities shift
daily, resulting in
wasted time and
increased stress
Lack of
actual results