Jim P. (4/7/2014)
Jeff Moden (4/7/2014)
I have to disagree a bit with the aspect of not saying anything if someone doesn't meet expectations. There's no doubt that not everyone on a Team is going to be equal. I very much agree with the intelligent manager that will find the niche that a "misfit" can really excel at and become a productive and contributing member of the Team.I'm going to have to agree with the whole idea -- but the way to handle it is inside the team and the management chain. You do your best not to reveal the problems to anyone outside the team.
So the comment that "Joe Bob didn't fix this yesterday," is met with "This is a new issue that we're just discovering and working on," or something similar. Then when you get back to the team you either comment to Joe Bob and/or document it or bring it up to management as needed.
And then there is also the need to follow the chain of management if it is not a fiduciary, regulatory, or similar issue. If you give your lard brained manager athlete's scalp too often you may be the problem and probably need to look elsewhere for employment.
To me that is the professional way to handle it. Essentially you do your best to cover to the outside the problems in the team and then work the problems out internally as best as possible.
Absolutely agreed. And I do tend to protect the team I'm on from outsiders. Having been in the Navy for almost a decade, I also have a strong respect for the chain of command. So if there's a real problem with someone on the team, I'll take it and copies of the pile of documentation I've collected on the person to the manager. Of course, it's very likely that, because the trouble maker is still employed, that the manager is going to be absolutely useless because 1) the manager should already know about that and 2) have already done something about it.
If the manager doesn't take care of a "poison member", then I'll make a decision. If the company is worth working for (and I'm not just talking about money), I'll take it up to the next rung in the chain of command but (now) with 2 people to report. If it's not, then I'll give my two weeks notice because it's not worth working with "poison team members" that report to a manager that allows it to continue. As they say... "Been there, done that, not doing it again".
Of course, that would also indicate a personal failure on my part. I can normally turn someone around long before such an action would even come close to being required.
--Jeff Moden
Change is inevitable... Change for the better is not.