Workplace mobbing

Chris and Ross are furious. They’ve both applied for the team leader role. But the job has been given to Brett.

Brett is the youngest member of the team. To Chris and Ross, this means he wasn’t entitled to a promotion. Rather than expressing their anger openly, they resort to passive aggressive tactics. These include deliberately making mistakes, pretending to forget important deadlines and muttering ‘care factor zero’ when Brett talks to the team.

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Sorting out team conflict

Kym had made an informal complaint about Antony ‘bullying’ her. Now Michael, their supervisor, had to sort out the situation. Michael had done the right thing by taking Kym’s complaint seriously. But he wasn’t quite sure what to do next. He called me for advice. Here’s what I explained about taking on a mediation role when you’re a manager.

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Managing Irrational People

Stella’s performance just wasn’t up to scratch. Kath, her supervisor, was keen to help Stella improve. But whenever Kath gave Stella feedback, the conversation got out of control.

Stella seemed unable to accept any form of feedback without becoming defensive. No matter how Kath worded her message, it triggered tirades and tears. Feeling at a loss about what to do next, Kath came to my course on Dealing with Difficult People.

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Kiera and Jason didn’t get on. Annette, their supervisor, tried to sort things out. But Kiera insisted it was all Jason’s fault.

Kiera refused to acknowledge her own part in the conflict. In desperation, Annette enrolled in my course on Dealing with Difficult People. During a break, I talked to Annette about how to set boundaries and limits on poor behaviour in the team. You might find these tips useful, too.

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Detox your team

Zeb was enthusiastic about stepping into his first team leader role. Little did he know that he was ‘inheriting’ a toxic team.

Sarcasm and catty remarks were abundant. Positive remarks and respectful interactions were rare. Conflicts from years ago were still reverberating. Here’s how I helped build a healthier dynamic in this team. You can use the same strategies to set your team up for success.

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Handling irrational people: Four steps for success

Irrational behaviour can be confusing or annoying. But with a bit of know-how you can handle it professionally. Here are some steps mental health professionals use to manage people who aren’t thinking straight. You can use them, too, when dealing with irrational people.

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The FAST way to sort out conflict

Negotiation can be challenging, particularly in a conflict situation. Using FAST principles will help you keep the conversation in ‘okay’ mode.

Focus on one issue at a time

Difficult negotiations can be derailed by side issues. So you need to focus and keep the conversation focussed on one thing at a time. Sometimes, during conflict, the other person deliberately tries to take the conversation off-track. But you can prevent diversions by identifying the key issue which needs to be resolved.

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Keep control of difficult conversations

Dreading the drama of a crunch point conversation? These four steps will help you through conversations with difficult people

Yes. Other people behave badly sometimes. But there are constructive ways you can broach tricky subjects, minimise conflict and move beyond impasses. Here are five ways to get started.

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Establishing team norms

Pete’s the project lead for a new cross-organisation team. He hasn’t worked with the team members before. Time is of the essence for this project and Pete needs to get the team performing.

Here’s how we’d help Pete deal with this problem. You can use the same strategies to develop or reinvigorate your teams.

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