Submitted by lilith on
in
Forums
Hello,
I would truly appreciate any advice anyone can give me about dealing with a difficult colleague in a very small, poorly managed group. I currently work in a group of four with one very non-collaborative peer. This person is a ladder climber (he seeks out the VPs every chance he gets - three skips) but either cannot or will not perform his duties appropriately. He has consistently disregarded advice solicited from myself and the others in the group and notes that he is not a "group kind of worker." He does not have as much experience as anyone else in the group. The group and our manager have found major gaps in his work and his business rationale, which has severely impacted his current project deliverables. Despite this, he wants to maintain control of a newer project that is one of the company's highest priorities.
Recently, our manager called a meeting and told us that he and I would be working together and asked each of us who wanted to have control of this project, and of course my peer said he wanted it before I could get anything out of my mouth. This led to a huge argument. I wish our boss had just told my peer that I would be the lead (which I found out later was his intention). I believe my boss didn't want to be the bad guy. This management style also has led to this difficult situation.
I don't have a problem with working with this person, but I am concerned about the project integrity. I have found more errors in the work, and have decided that it would be better to just tell my boss that my peer is not going to be able to lead this project appropriately and needs more training. I feel I need to take a stronger role and say the things my manager does not want to say, but I am also concerned that I am taking on too much of a management role, and that this in itself may lead to additional problems, in that I may appear disrespectful.
Am I out of line? Please let me know if there is a better way to handle this.
Thank You for any advice,
Lilith
Confused
I reread the post above. I'm not clear on who *is* leading the project: you or your peer?
Non-collaborative Peer
Lilith - Do the absolute best job that you can and find a different position / work team as quickly as you can.
Your manager is responsible for the performance of the team and each member of it. Your posting indicates that he is aware of the situation and isn't taking any action to correct the behavior and poor performance.
You indicate that your manager already knows about the poor performance, so talking to him to point out what he alredy knows isn't going to have a positive result for you.
Taking over the project or trying to unofficially manage the performance of the peer is only going to increase the problem, as you made it clear that the problem peer already knows that his work / behavior is seen as unacceptable by his peers (and presumably by your manager). The problem employee is then in a position to say that his poor performance is due to the fact that you don't like him and are trying to sabotage him, etc.
Best Wishes and Good Luck
What goes around...
Ineffective, deceptive ladder climbers generally flame out. The challenge is to survive being around them while their "shooting star" performance burns their co-workers.
Rok777 is right: you should still do the right thing, and help the project succeed. Document things. You may not need to share all the documentation, but it's good to have.
Finally, think strategically: how can you be successful at this firm without competing with this guy? Can you forge another path for the time being?
John Hack
Non-collaborative peer
To the first comment by TLHausmann - My peer was originally given Project # 2 months ago, with myself as secondary, due to the high priority status. As time progressed on Project #1, more and more timelines were missed. Because of this my manager agreed that new leadership was needed on Project #2 and that I should take the lead, but handled it as above. He later confided that he was trying to give me a "chance to voice my interest."
To the second comment by Rok777, I know that this is not good management. But I really like this company, and believe in this product we are currently working on. I told my peer that I need to be more involved and formally set up weekly 30 min meetings to check on the status of the project and give us an opportunity to communicate. He didn't like it, but it was the only thing I could think of. I am hoping these meetings allow us to set up the feedback model.
As far as my boss goes, I am extremely disappointed. I am somewhat new to this company and expected him to handle the situation somehow. But we are a bunch of tech geeks, so I don't think he is good with forceful personalities like this non-collaborative peer (extremely high D - I am willing to bet).
What goes around
Thanks for your insight John. I have other projects that I am working on, and am quite sure I will be able to find success despite this challenge. But I am concerned about the health of the project. No one seems to be willing to stand up to this guy or call him out on his actions, or lack thereof. I guess every company's got one.
Thanks again everyone for your input. It is nice to know that there is someone out there who has "been there, done that."
Let him lead
It's understandable that you care about the success of the project. But you can't do everything. So let him own it, let him manage it. Support him, execute your tasks well, and let the chips fall where they may. Sometimes, the only way toxic personalities leave is when they are put in the spotlight. Let him have the spotlight.
John Hack