A structured approach can mean success for all sides.
The challenge of managing difficult managers can be rather daunting, especially when you inherit them! If they are your own born and bred, then hopefully they would have evolved into great managers already.
Experience shows that difficult managers are difficult because they are angry and frustrated about something or somebody (even themselves - especially where they are, or have become, a square peg in a round hole of a job), so the steps to take are these:-
1. Always a first is to build great relationships with your people. This involves protected one-to-one time, where they feel valued. Get to know them really well.
Get them talking about anything and everything that is important to them - this deflects the 'difficult' bit and creates a common place for you to communicate. It also builds all those things like trust and valued-ness etc.
2. Get really clear on standards for all of your managers and get them involved in the process. Itinerant trouble-makers usually fall in if the majority do. Do the same with personal objectives based on their best skillset, not their worst.
It's easier to get success from things folks are good at then waste energy on things that are very tough for them (in fact, frankly, they are in the wrong job).
Ensure that everyone complies with these standards consistently and fairly and be flexible if they don't work. It's OK to be a bit tolerant, though only in the 'how' things are delivered as long as the outcome (the 'what') really happens.
3. If these measures don't work, it's time to get emotional (no. not tears!). The phrase, 'I need your help...' is a great way to go - as is 'I wanted to tell you how I felt after...'.
Both are EQ dialogue, aimed to find out what's wrong and how you can help. If the push back is to 'stop hassling them', then the groundwork you did with the standards proves it's worth.
4. After the discussion above, is the 'escalation'. Most people actually want to feel that they are doing a good job - and if they can't, it's time to get a life and move on. This tough discussion will be a lot easier if you've followed the previous steps and it will also mean that you are more protected against criticism.
5. So now is the time to get tough with whatever formal procedures your organisation has. In different countries this will vary, but it requires tenacity and consistency on your part. But, what usually happens, is that folks realise you are serious and move on themselves.
If they are resilient, go down your formal disciplinary route carefully, but do it! There is a moment when you can say, 'This isn't going to get any easier, how can I help you resolve this...?'
6. Be firm. clear, fair, resilient, tenacious and ultimately realise that their behaviours are where they are going wrong, not them as people.
Truthfully, you are doing them a big favour - one which others may well have not been prepared to take on - and that did these people a disservice.
Goodness knows what some folks have experienced in their lives before they got to us - some are redeemable, some are not - sadly, that's life and we can't be responsible for anyone else, after all it's tough enough being responsible for ourselves.
And difficult managers are ultimately no different than anyone else - so this can be used elsewhere.
This is do-able and you will benefit from the experience (though some days you might curse a bit!).
You deserve the peace of being able to work constructively with all of your people, whoever they are.
Dealing With Difficult Patients
Many managers and supervisors in my leadership training workshops come up to me privately regretting that they did not document a particular incident with an employee. A lot of times they report to me that as time went on, the difficult employee only got worse. Soon, they had to terminate the employee. Often they will say to me, ?That lack of documentation came back to haunt me.? Many managers and supervisors today are overloaded, and let's face it, documentation takes time. Unfortunately, too, for these people, they often feel they're spending 80% of their time dealing with the difficult employees. I'm amazed at how many people in management positions really don't know exactly what to document. So, here is a list of things to include if you're dealing with a difficult employee.
1. Date, time and place of where you are doing the documentation in case you'd ever need to account for your whereabouts.
2. Date and time the incident occurred.
3. The difficult employee's full name.
4. Location where the incident occurred. Was it in your office building or out in the work trenches?
5. Witnesses present. Include the names of those who saw the incident, and came to you to complain about the difficult employee and the situation. Even if you didn't personally observe it, often when that many employees are all saying the same thing, there's usually a grain of truth to it.
6. Your action at the time. Did you say anything to the employee about this? If so, what? Be as specific as possible and stick to the facts. Remain objective not subjective.
7. The employee's reaction. If you spoke to the employee, how did they react? Again, be as specific as possible. Stick to the facts in terms of how they acted and what they said.
8. Any other unusual things you notice about the difficult employee such as a radical change in their personality.
9. Your signature. (You don't need the employee's signature as this is simply to remind you of the facts.)
In dealing with a difficult employee, this documentation is not something you would show them. It is your observation documentation only. This is for your records and for your Human Resources department if you have one. Keep this information in a locked file and do whatever your organization's policy requires you to do with it. Every organization is different.
When documenting stick to the facts. You want to remain objective as opposed to subjective. This way it's less likely that the difficult employee can say, ?Well, that's just your perception. You're just picking on me.? As long as you can remember facts and data it will be harder for them to argue with you.
There's the chance that anything you write down, whether at work or at home, could be read in front of a jury. Take any "emotion" out of the equation. Focus on the facts and specific behaviors such as missed deadlines, or dates and times the difficult employee showed up late for work. And remember, the documentation is also to illustrate everything you tried to do to save them. For example, write down any training you provided. Because unfortunately when dealing with difficult employees, these people often fire themselves.
Both Martin Haworth & Colleen Kettenhofen are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Martin Haworth has sinced written about articles on various topics from Finances, Interview Questions and Team Building. ?2006 Martin Haworth is a Management Coach. He has more at his website, . Martin recommends. Martin Haworth's top article generates over 3350000 views. to your Favourites.
Colleen Kettenhofen has sinced written about articles on various topics from Fitness, Difficult people and Leadership. Colleen Kettenhofen is a speaker, workplace expert and co-author of The Masters of Success, as featured on The Today show, along with Ken Blanchard and Jack Canfield. Popular topics: difficult people, leadership, management, public speaking, success. Coll. Colleen Kettenhofen's top article generates over 90500 views. to your Favourites.
