Anonymous said: Dan, I have a problem. I "oversee" a team but I have not yet been officially made "supervisor" or "manager". Basically the lead person of the area in which I work, I am expected to have the answers to the problems and keep the area staffed appropriately.
One of the girls who works in my department only does 4 hours per week as a float, her home base is another department. Last week we had an issue - when she came in to work in our area she refused to sit at an empty work station, instead she made a fuss because she wanted to sit where someone else was already logged on (that person was not scheduled to be at that station until the afternoon, but since it takes so long to log into the system she had opened up all programs and locked her computer station so she would be ready to work in the afternoon).
When I asked her to please sit at the empty desk she raised her voice and ended up walking out to get her manager. To make a long story short, the employee ended up getting her way (the employee scheduled in the afternoon had to come in and shut everything down). Once this was done the part time person proceeded to sit at the empty work station that I had asked her to sit at originally!!! I was infuriated! The air in the department was thick and tense for the time she remained with us.
Once she had left for the day it was brought to my attention by another that when she had walked out to get her manager she was bad mouthing me - making comments to the effect of "who does she think she is - she's not the manager - I don't have to listen to her".........how should I deal with this?
P.S., I would love to see this put into a forum and see the different ways people would approach this, thanks!
Dan's Response: Let's put first things first. You need to discuss the situation with your boss and get a clear understanding of your role and responsibilities. You may not have an official title, but you have apparently been given some responsibilities that need a commensurate amount of authority. You and your boss need to reach a clear understanding of how much authority you are expected to exert.
Having done that, you need to also discuss the specifics of this situation and how it should have been handled. Do you have the right to assign workstations? If not, what are you supposed to do when someone sits at a station that has already logged in for another employee? And as a side issue, what is your boss's position on people logging in early so a work station is ready to go when they start work? And you also need to discuss how to handle insubordinate people who do not report directly (I assume) to your manager.
Since you didn't mention any other troublesome people, I assume everyone else in the department understands that you are in charge and have certain responsibilities and authority. If that's not true, your boss needs to communicate your role to the people who work in your department. If there are only one or two people who fail to appreciate your role and the level of authority you have over them, your boss needs to clearly establish that with the individuals involved. If any of those individuals directly report to another manager and are temporarily assigned to your department, your boss needs to clarify with their manager and their manager needs to clarify with the individual your role and authority over the individual when they are working in your department.
As presented, you imply that it was the temporary person's manager who let the person have their way. If so, I am astounded that your manager would accept another manager coming into the department and telling you how to run it. If this in fact is the situation, you need a clear understanding with your manager on how to handle a similar situation in the future.
On the other hand, if it was your manager who let the person have their way, then you need to explore your manager's reason for doing that. If you can accept the reasoning, fine. If you have difficulty accepting the reasoning, especially in light of the impact on your morale and that of the department, ask your manager if things might be handled differently in the future. For example, unless you are totally out of line, perhaps your manager could address insubordination by telling the employee to follow your directives. You're manager could then take you aside to discuss whether or not your directive was solid. If not, then you're manager could coach you on how to go back and revise the directive with the employee. For example in this case, if the work area in question should not have been logged onto, your boss might have you get the absentee employee to log off, and following that you might tell the temporary employee that they can now move over to that terminal if they want to. That way, you're still in charge even though it may have been that the work terminal shouldn't have been locked out.
In any case, it is your boss who has to establish the extent of your authority and how you are to handle things. And it may be that you don't have as much authority as you think you do and/or it may be that your boss might think you are being too strict. If so, clearing the air on these matters will help put your role into better perspective. But in any case, you and your boss need to agree that you can't effectively be in charge of the department if people are allowed to be insubordinate and do whatever they want in defiance of you and with the support of one or more managers in your company. If that's going to be the case then the employee, not you, is running the department.
Finally, becoming emotional or infuriated when you face a difficult employee ends up diminishing your leadership persona. Even though you took a hit which seems to be unjustified in light of the insubordination, you look much better when you learn to put your emotions aside and rise above it. Having a good rapport with your boss so you can talk through these situations so they can be avoided in the future is a good way to start.
About me: Dan Pelley conducts training programs for supervisors in the New England states, with a concentration in Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island. His programs include "Handling the Difficult Employee," "Working Together," "Managing People," and "Leadership Skills."
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8 comments:
This all depends on which manager allowed this associate to get their way. If it was your manager, he/she failed you miserably. One of the keys to a successful management team is to present a united front in the presence of the associates. This is not to say that you will always agree, but most "problem" associates will quickly learn where the weak link is and capitalize on it. Your manager should have spoken with you and private and then the 2 of you could speak with the associate and be on the same page. There is a fine line between trying to make the associates happy and allowing them to "rule the roost". It sounds like you may be able to coach your manager on this one.
If it was another manager, you should talk it over with your manager and have an honest conversation to be sure that everyone involved understands and respects the responsibility that you have been assigned. Hang in there!!
thanks for the insight, Dan. Unfortunately it WAS my direct supervisor who let the person "have their own way" but I did understand her reasoning behind doing so. I do have a great working relationship with my superior, she is a mentor to me and has provided me with some great guidance as I move forward in my career. My lingering problem is the "bad taste" left after what had happened, and how this employee proceeded to sit where I had asked her to originally. Now I am not sure how to approach her to regain the working relationship we once had. I do not hold it against her but I know it has put a strain on our relationship.
The first anonymous post was not from the originator. It was a separate opinion. Good food for thought. Even though this response preceeded your additional concerns, the advice may still apply. Possibly you'll need your boss to help you clear the air.
The second anonymous post was the originator and I'll respond with this question: What is the person's attitude now? Has she moved on, or are there lingering issues? If she's moved on, so can you. I'll address that further if you want). If she hasn't, then ask your boss how you should handle this. (If you like your boss's approach, let us all know. If not, I'll address that if you want). And do consider the suggestion of getting your boss to help you clear the air.
To all who would like to comment. Please join us. But if you want to be anonymous, suggest you try the name/url option instead of the anonymous option. Using name/url allows you to put in any name you wish so you can remain hidden, but still gives us a name to work with. Imagine if we have five anonymous commentors and we want to respond to the fourth one (assuming we can tell the fourth one was different than the third one)
This is Dan Pelley and I'm going to use the name/url option for this comment.
Hey Dan. You forgot to tell people that when using name/url, the url is optional. Just make up a name, skip the url, and go. I'll try it as flipper!
Flipper here. Skipper is my registered blogger name. I just made up Flipper using name/url. I didn't include a url.
Hi Dan, "originator" here - I have not had the person in my department since the issue, will let you know as soon as I do and what happens.
Okay. Let me know. But, since you both work in the same company, be sure to act like nothing happened if you see her. Greet her just as you would anyone you pass by in the hall. Who knows? She may have moved beyond it as well.
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