Difficult Staff Members

[IanT]

Hi Guys,

 

Just a question on how do you deal with difficult staff members in your team?

 

I've been told by a certain person at the school im starting one of guys has a BIG problem being told what todo.......otherwise he strops!

 

I do in my head have my ways of dealing with this but wanted to know have you had to deal with one of your members and sit them down and tell them im the boss you do as your told and pull ya finger out.

 

Thanks,

Ian.

[majeeko]

make sure they know from the start that you are the boss and things are done your way. do it in a nice and friendly way and let them know if they have any ideas to make things better then they can discuss it with you, but if you are they boss let them know it early on.

[kmount]

Ian,

 

My best piece of advice to you is to initially watch from the peripherary and see how the team "works" as is, rather than try to get involved. Watch how things are for a week at least and then sit down with each member of the team; discuss their views on the team as a whole, their strengths, their weaknesses etc and how they value their role in the team.

 

Then, once you're grounded in, you can stress that whilst you aren't out to rock the boat you have ideas and plans to help further build the team and procedure forward. Be open to criticism as you'll likely get some from those hard stuck in their old ways but you need to put up with that unfortunately.

 

I'm sure you'll be fine, but whomever it was who told you PRIOR to starting a job that you have a difficult team member should be ashamed as that's just unprofessional when a new line manager is coming in to have false expectations.

 

Also, given your name is here, if the member of the team reads this forum, how are they going to feel?

[laserblazer]

Also, given your name is here, if the member of the team reads this forum, how are they going to feel?

 

Try and give him some areas of responsibility and make him feel he is a valued member of the team. This may not have been happening under the old regime and that may be the problem.

[Midget]

daily beatings!

 

I'd say to watch your back around them, I've dealt with people like that before and they will try to drop you in it or cause problems for you.

[kmount]

There's two sides to every story.

[bossman]

I find that people who strop do so because they feel intimidated and have low self esteem, build them up, ask them their advice on matters get them involved with the day to day running, empower them by asking them to set their own workload up and then managing it.

 

People only fall down when pushed.

[Midget]

There's two sides to every story.

Rock crushes scissors!

But paper covers rock.

And scissors cuts paper!

Kif, we have a conundrum.

 

 

Bossman: some people are just bitter, I've had someone in the past make huge waves despite helping them in every possible way. I'm not saying this guy definately is like this, but I'm just passing on my experiances because I wouldn't want someone else to go through it

Edited October 21, 2008 by Midget

[IanT]

Thanks Guys, all comments taken onboard.

 

Thats what I was going todo is see how things go for a week and then sit down and have a chat.

 

Im a fair guy and will give anyone a chance so we shall see....

 

 

[Friez]

Speaking as a tech, I personally only start pushing back when someone above starts pushing me dangerously close to cliff edges.

 

I am never unreasonable when it comes to being asked to do stuff, and I'll only decline if I feel it is way out of my field of expertise or nigh on impossible to fit in with the current workload. If they don't like being ordered around, find out what their story is.

 

If they are being asked to do stuff they can't handle, train them. If they're being given too much work to handle, manage it. If they're just being plain unreasonable find out why. There's probably reasons behind someone not doing something.

[Midget]

I've just had a major brainflash

 

 

WHO told you they were difficult? A member of IT Staff or some teacher?

[IanT]

SMT who is working closer there atm.

[Midget]

Teachers will always describe a tech as difficult as they don't help them first, there is a chance that it's just a case of the tech has told the member of SMT that they aren't able to do something.

 

If the guy is <21yo might be worth a worry, but otherwise it'll prob be fine

[kylewilliamson]

I find that people who strop do so because they feel intimidated and have low self esteem

 

People only fall down when pushed.

 

We've all met webman

[dhicks]

Am I the only one that sees IanT's avatar and mentally reads the post in Dr. Mike's voice?

 

Hi Guys

 

Everybody: Hi IanT!

 

I've been told by a certain person at the school im starting one of guys has a BIG problem being told what to do...

 

Probably quite understandably - no one likes feeling they're being ordered around all day. We aren't the military, this isn't a life-or-death situation, we can all afford to take things a bit easier. Instead of phrasing tasks as an order ("Hey! Do Foo!"), get the chap in question to feel like you're at least asking his opinion ("What do you think, Foo first, or is Bar more important?").

 

--

David Hicks

[IanT]

Am I the only one that sees IanT's avatar and mentally reads the post in Dr. Mike's voice?

 

 

 

Everybody: Hi IanT!

 

 

 

Probably quite understandably - no one likes feeling they're being ordered around all day. We aren't the military, this isn't a life-or-death situation, we can all afford to take things a bit easier. Instead of phrasing tasks as an order ("Hey! Do Foo!"), get the chap in question to feel like you're at least asking his opinion ("What do you think, Foo first, or is Bar more important?").

 

--

David Hicks

 

One thing I have gone when speaking to him via email is his opinon on things, do you agree with this and that etc

[elsiegee40]

SMT who is working closer there atm.

 

 

In other words a teacher, instructing a technician...

 

Sounds like the recipe for a personality clash to me.

 

We've all experienced teachers who know our job better than we do (allegedly)... some of them word it better than others.

 

Give the guy a chance. He's probably been praying for your arrival!

[IanT]

In other words a teacher, instructing a technician...

 

Sounds like the recipe for a personality clash to me.

 

We've all experienced teachers who know our job better than we do (allegedly)... some of them word it better than others.

 

Give the guy a chance. He's probably been praying for your arrival!

 

No its a Member from teh SMT, not a teacher.

[elsiegee40]

No its a Member from teh SMT, not a teacher.

 

The other staff can be just as bad if they're not technical.

 

I'm building myself up for a polite argument (followed by a Red Door post, probably) with a parent who thinks he can run our email system for us... "you just need any old PC" * groan *

[IanT]

lol .

[dhicks]

No its a Member from the SMT, not a teacher.

 

Ah. Then simply knowing more than them generally works. If you can explain to them, in detail, why you want stuff done in a particular way then there's not really any argument - you can hopefully both see which is the best and/or only route that needs to be taken. Generally, most everything simply boils down to money, anyway - most of the problems we deal with day-to-day can generally be fixed by throwing stacks of cash at them, it's just that we have to figure out the most sensible compromise for the budget that we have.

 

--

David Hicks

[grumpy_git]

I would agree with those who say give it a week or two to see how things all work, what procedures are etc before going in and making changes. And, if at all possible, discuss it with the others before insisting upon it. As a tech I'd prefer to be asked "I'm thinking of changing the procedure to *this*, what do you think?" rather than told "We're doing it this way".

 

Personally I won't get snotty if I'm told what to do - ultimately the NM is my line manager and if he makes a reasonable request, I'm pretty much obliged to do it.

 

Of course, if the NM does ask me to do such a job, and there's a good reason - eg there's something else which needs to be done urgently, or I'm halfway through a job, I'll explain this and usually continue and do it later. But, ultimately, since the NM is in charge of the "team" it's for him to decide who does what - if this ends up upsetting teachers then so be it.

[IanT]

I would agree with those who say give it a week or two to see how things all work, what procedures are etc before going in and making changes. And, if at all possible, discuss it with the others before insisting upon it. As a tech I'd prefer to be asked "I'm thinking of changing the procedure to *this*, what do you think?" rather than told "We're doing it this way".

 

Personally I won't get snotty if I'm told what to do - ultimately the NM is my line manager and if he makes a reasonable request, I'm pretty much obliged to do it.

 

Of course, if the NM does ask me to do such a job, and there's a good reason - eg there's something else which needs to be done urgently, or I'm halfway through a job, I'll explain this and usually continue and do it later. But, ultimately, since the NM is in charge of the "team" it's for him to decide who does what - if this ends up upsetting teachers then so be it.

 

Agreed, I will get back to you guys after a week and see how things are.

 

Thanks,

[Friez]

I've found the best way is to be understaffed. That way you're all too busy to get into a strop about anything!

 

Or become less productive due to increased stress and decreased morale...

[witch]

Or even better: be understaffed, and alone - so there's no time to get stroppy and no one to get stroppy with!