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Chapter 11: Conflict in Teams > Difficult Team Members
Difficult Team Members
What do you do if there is a particularly difficult member in the team who you feel disrupts the team’s work? Your first task is to think carefully about the ways in which this person is difficult and why this person is difficult. Sometimes, when teams are in difficulty, team members can ‘scapegoat’ particular individuals, heaping all the blame for the team’s failures on that person, and then trying to drive them away. In this way, they unconsciously try to rid themselves of the problems but are failing to address the real causes (Hackman, 2002).
Case Example
The retail coordination team
Elaine was the young team leader in a new retail coordination team of a major oil company. Geoffrey, her oldest and most experienced team member, had been with the company for many years. Elaine discovered that, unknown to her, Geoffrey had been conducting work with a number of retail outlets in a nearby town using the team’s resources, at the same time as conducting the major project for which he was employed. When Elaine expressed anger to Geoffrey, communication broke down.
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