How should you deal with the troublemakers and disruptors on your team?
Let us look at those difficult people and situations that you can have on your team.
Should You Ignore or Address Difficulties?
Most supervisors and frontline leaders will only have one or two people that really give them a lot of grief on their team, but should you just ignore those people or should you deal with it?
If you ignore them, a couple of things will probably happen:
- They will end up continuing the behaviour.
- The rest of the team will become resentful that they can get away with that behaviour, while they, the other good workers, cannot.
- The people who are behaving badly are technically getting rewarded because you will have less and less to do with them.
- You will essentially ignore those difficult people and that just makes their behaviour get worse.
3 Tips to Handle Disruptors On Your Team
Tip Number One: Be Conversational and Direct
Apply the BEER method for giving feedback.
B stands for Behaviour. What are they doing that is particularly disruptive or problematic to you?
E stands for Effect. What happens as a result of that behaviour? What might make it difficult for their coworkers, or for you to hit your production numbers or various other problems?
E stands for Expectation. Consider responding with, “Here is what I would like you to do in the future. I would like you to behave this way.”
R stands for Result. Explain to the individual that when they behave in this way you would expect to see better teamwork, production rates, fewer quality mistakes, and anything else that might show proof of success.
Tip Number Two: Escalate as Needed
Use the BEER method for quick, on-the-job, and on-the-spot feedback. However, if it is going to continue and be very pervasive, you will have to pivot, dig in deeper, and have a disciplinary talk.
This might involve your HR manager, an HR team, or it might be something that is still within your responsibilities as a supervisor. This could mean that you now need to write the person up or execute a written warning.
Tip Number Three: Thank Them When They Change
Most people, when you confront them about negative behaviour, will start to change that behaviour. When they do, it is good for you to at least acknowledge it.
You do not want to get to the point where it becomes embarrassing because you continue to make a big deal about it. A simple acknowledgement may be all that is needed to let that person know that you see that they have made an effort to change and that you appreciate it.
Most people, when you confront them about negative behaviour, will start to change that behaviour. When they do, it is good for you to at least acknowledge it. Share on XImproving Leadership Skills
Once you have figured out how to deal with the troublemakers and disruptors on your team, you may decide that you want to work on some of your other leadership skills and behaviours.
That is where we come in!
We are experts in Frontline Leadership and, of course, it starts with a conversation on our website at uniquedevelopment.com, and why not join one of our communities of like-minded proactive leaders or one of the many social media channels that we are on?
No matter what it takes, we really want to work with you to make you the best leader that you can be.
