{"id":1045,"date":"2008-08-28T00:05:04","date_gmt":"2008-08-28T04:05:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/grace-ed.org\/blog\/?p=1045"},"modified":"2008-08-23T18:09:42","modified_gmt":"2008-08-23T22:09:42","slug":"how-to-handle-a-dysfunctional-staff-colleague","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/grace-ed.org\/blog\/archives\/1045","title":{"rendered":"How to Handle a Dysfunctional Staff Colleague"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>I\u2019ve had a string of conversations recently with supervisors related to troubling staff. Few things seem as frustrating as working with underfunctioning or incompetent staff persons. Ironically, the overwhelming feeling by supervisors is one of powerlessness in the face of ineptitude. Other common dilemmas that get supervisors stuck are: the trap of needing to be liked, wanting to be seen as \u201cfair\u201d and \u201cunderstanding,\u201d and the fear of making a tough decision that will affect another\u2019s life. <!--more--><\/p>\n<p>Let\u2019s face it, there\u2019s no easy way to handling a difficult staff situation. And if you are the leader, handling tough problems and making hard decisions just comes with the job. When it comes to handling dysfunctional staff I have little advice to offer for dealing with internal emotional angst, insecurity, or self-doubt. But here\u2019s some advice of a more pragmatic nature I\u2019ve found helpful when dealing with troubling staff:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Pray for them. It\u2019ll help you get past your own anger.<\/li>\n<li>Pray for patience for yourself. Impatience, and the reactivity that follows its wake, is a sure sign you\u2019ve taken the situation personally.<\/li>\n<li>Practice grace in trying to understand and accept the person despite their performance. I\u2019ve found practicing Roger\u2019s \u201cunconditional positive regard\u201d to be a great way to separate poor performance from personal worth. It is possible to preserve a staff person\u2019s dignity while holding them accountable. <\/li>\n<li>Express appreciation when they do something right (publicly and privately). Some people seem to think that giving a compliment is equivalent to losing \u201cchips.\u201d People need to know when they\u2019ve done a good job, as much as when they\u2019ve done less than the best. <\/li>\n<li>Share your concerns honestly with the staff person. I\u2019m always surprise that nine times out of ten, the answer to the question, \u201cHave you talked with the staff person about your frustration?\u201d is, \u201cNo.\u201d <\/li>\n<li>Encourage them to grow professionally and personally. Those who take you up on this invitation in tangible ways are worth considering for a second chance. Those who do not are giving evidence that there\u2019s likely little motivation on their part to contribute to the health of the organization through their own growth. <\/li>\n<li>Be clear about your expectations for a personal and professional working relationship<\/li>\n<li>Don\u2019t take responsibility for their mistakes; give them freedom to fail (and learn). In other words, resist overfunctioning. Poor performance on their part is not necessarily a poor reflection on you. Again, don\u2019t take it personally. <\/li>\n<li>Be frank with staff and supervising committees about actual and potential issues that threaten a professional working relationship<\/li>\n<li>Treat them professionally and courteously<\/li>\n<li>Do not speak ill of them in public, ever.<\/li>\n<li>If you supervise them, hold them accountable to clear expectations and written guidelines (document incidents and performance related conversations)<\/li>\n<li>Every once in a while ask yourself, &#8220;How am I contributing to this problem?&#8221; <\/li>\n<li>If you supervise them give yourself permission to let them go if it is within your authority; do not delay the process if the staff member shows no sign of being willing to change. Every time I\u2019ve had to let go of someone, they\u2019ve thanked me. One person went so far as to say, \u201cWhat took you so long?\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.galindoconsultants.com\"><img src='http:\/\/grace-ed.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/galindobanner5.jpg' alt='galindoconsultants.com' \/><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I\u2019ve had a string of conversations recently with supervisors related to troubling staff. Few things seem as frustrating as working with underfunctioning or incompetent staff persons. Ironically, the overwhelming feeling by supervisors is one of powerlessness in the face of &hellip; <a href=\"http:\/\/grace-ed.org\/blog\/archives\/1045\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[30,18,37,22,27,11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1045","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-administration","category-bowen-family-systems-theory","category-congregational-life","category-leadership","category-personal-growth","category-second-chair"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/grace-ed.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1045","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/grace-ed.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/grace-ed.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/grace-ed.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/grace-ed.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1045"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/grace-ed.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1045\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/grace-ed.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1045"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/grace-ed.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1045"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/grace-ed.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1045"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}