How does your team handle a pouty team member?
Barbilee is a team member of a community board. She never said it, but her actions screamed, “I WON’T PLAY!” Other board members described Barbilee as passive aggressive, obstructive, non-participatory, or just not around. If she stayed in the room, she put down other members’ opinions, presented her own opinion as the only way to proceed, and afterward sent hostile emails.
The team had done the right thing to prevent the storming that can be any part of any team development. They had set up agreements (or rules) for managing conflict, listening, handling criticism, questioning group activity, and opportunities for each person to be a leader. Still, they had a problem with Barbilee. What should they do?
Board members considered what might be at the root of Barbilee’s dissension. She had become disruptive across all topics. They could not determine if she was dealing with health issue or cognitive issue. They acknowledged that this hostility and disruption at the board level could damage their institution overall and could sink their organization altogether. It was agreed that organization was important enough for the board members to stand up for it. They read through their non-storming agreements and re-committed to honoring them. It was decided that board leadership should deal with this quickly, and in person. Two board members met with Barbilee, presented copies of offensive emails, and told her that while her opinion on board matters is valuable, and that her hostility was undermining both her point of view and the important work of the organization. They let her know that if things did not improve, she would be removed from the board.
Moving forward, individual board members spoke out on an item-by-item basis when Barbilee did something unacceptable. The enforcement worked. Barbilee’s behavior improved markedly, and quickly. She was able to contribute successfully to the organization. This board’s strategy might not work for a person with a strategic or ethical disagreement. It did work on the behavior issue in this case.
Yes, it takes courage to practice on our agreements (rules); and it is so worthwhile.
Questions
- What agreements do you have in place to ensure individual member performance on your team?
- What do you do when there is a problem with a particular member’s performance?
Chuck Scharenberg is the Founder of More Profit More Freedom, a consultancy that supports the execution of large-scale growth for small businesses. His practice has successfully grown businesses with processes that identify potential roadblocks and mitigation schemes to accelerate realistic execution.
Solving the Right problems by asking the Right questions!