Quick Tips for Dealing with Difficult People
Your hands are sweating; your stomach is in knots. Once again you need to sit down and discuss your project requirements document with that obnoxious team member. The one who just drives you crazy. If you say left, they say right. But that’s OK because you put it off until the very end of the day. You immersed yourself in other work and did not bother to think about this conversation. After all why waste time on a no win situation? You are going to stop by their desk, tell them how it will be and then go home.
It’s Not My Meeting and Other Myths
Oh, the stories we tell and the stories we hear. Have you
ever heard anyone use one of the excuses below to distance themselves from
their responsibility as a team member? Shame on those of us who use these
excuses and on those of us who let others use them.
It is not my meeting – Guess what?
If you have a business reason to be in the meeting, then it is your meeting
too. Not only do you have the right to contribute, you have a responsibility to
contribute, so speak up and share your expertise and opinions.
I did not set the agenda – Just a
step or two away from “it is not my meeting” is the infamous “well, I did not
set the agenda”. The implication is that only the person who defines the agenda
can decide what is discussed. So if critical information is not brought to the
table, well, that is just too bad, because “Hey, I did not set the agenda.”
Well, nobody asked me – This one is
usually accompanied by a pouting face or a petulant tone of voice. None of us
should be expected to have access to psychic powers, but if you know a problem
exists and you know the solution – it does not matter that nobody asked you
directly. Step up and step in to help.
It is not my job – So you knew from
reports you receive that the database was about to run out of space. Guess
what? Last night the database ran out of space and this morning the application
was unavailable for two hours. But it is not your problem; after all, you
manage the hardware not the database. It is not your job.
Now do any of these excuses really make sense? Of course not. Remember when one
team member decides to disengage, we all suffer the consequences.
