Dysfunctional Group

Rockie

Our Medical Records Department, which is a very important part of a medical practice, has some of the most dysfunctional people I have ever had the misfortune of meeting. They can't seem to spend five minutes in the company of each other without snapping each other's heads off.

We hired a returning employee who lasted one day after an employee told her "A lot has changed in the six years you have been gone and I don't have time to train you. You will have to find the answers to your questions from someone else."

The supervisor is part of the problem as he is trying to supervise too many areas. He has a lead person, but she is one that frequently leaves in tears when someone "hurts her feelings".

I have spent as much time trying to get this group to work together as I am willing to invest. At this point, I feel like going in and saying - you have two choices (1) learn to get along well enough to work together without constant issues or (2) move along to another company.

What has been your experiences with dysfunctional groups and how did you resolve it?

Gillian3

Herd 'em up and move 'em out. Working with disfunctional groups is effective only when the people in the group see some benefit to getting along.

marc

It is OK to expect and demand professionalism at work. Demand it by making clear your expectations of professional behavior. The consequences of not meeting those expectations eventually (and sooner is better than later in some cases) leads to termination.

There are some people that cannot like each other, and that is OK, but you expect it NOT to interfere with the smooth operations of the business.

You cannot change everyone however, so it is often the conclusion that one or more of the parties involved needs to have their future freed up so they can find a more compatible environment (and you can find more compatible staff).

Don D

"At this point, I feel like going in and saying - you have two choices (1) learn to get along well enough to work together without constant issues or (2) move along to another company."



Couldn't have said it better! dd

Dasher

I absolutely positively second the Don's reply above. Say it and mean it.

Gjack

I like to call this the "Get happy or get out" speech.

ritaanz

- you have two choices (1) learn to get along well enough to work together without constant issues or (2) move along to another company

Perfect! I would also put it in writing, 14 point letters, and hand it out as they leave your meeting.

Frenchie

We had a similar situation about a year ago. Most of the problem was due to poor/no leadership and management. The Team Leader, who had a lot of personal problems, was not able to improve her performance and eventually resigned. At that time we had the HR Assistant spend three months with the team, assessing the strenghts and weaknesses of the team members, workload and workflow for each person and the team as a whole. From that we developed a cross training plan, trained everyone and redistributed the work among the team members. We increased team communication via daily huddles and bi-monthly formal meetings. This was not a happy group of people. There was a lot of jealousy, insecurity and backstabbing. We dealt with those issues whenever they came up and made it very clear that if the team was not successful, each member was also unsuccessful. If someone was training another team member we held them as responsible for the success of that training as the person being trained. My assistant and I championed this group with others in the company, looked out for their best interest, praised them for their many accomplishments and put in place some practices that kept this team from being a dumping ground for other associates. At the end of the three months we hired a new Team Leader. I am please to say that all is going well, and the team has gone from being perceived as a disaster to being a strong performing and well respected part of the company.

A very long winded way to say, it has to start with your Managers. Good luck.

Pricehcs

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I would recommend the book 'The Five Dysfunctions of a Team' by Patrick Lencioni. (Actually a good read for any HR person.) It tackles very specific interpersonal behaviors that lead to dysfunctional activities.

Having said that, I absolutely endorse the 'get it fixed or else' message and would add my name to the list of posters recommending that above. Providing the book at the same time that message is given could be supportive in helping the group 'figure it out.'



#1 thing a consultant shouldn't say: "I could tell you the answer right now, but we're committed to a three month project..." #-o

Rockie

Thanks guys for all your comments. The manager is actually moving his office into Medical Records for a few months to get them working together as a team. He will readily be able to identify the "pot stirrers" of which there is one major one he has his eye on. I believe this one will have to go before the team is successful and I believe that she will make this determination on her own as soon as she knows she is being closely observed.

I will get that book on dysfunctional teams. More knowledge can never hurt!

JM in ATL

A few years ago I worked for a company that was seeing tremendous growth. New employees constantly coming in, and the old employees felt invaded.

The old employees didn't want to relinquish the duties that were overwhelming them to the new employees, who were hired to alieve such problems.

There was a lot of trust issues, some gossiping and a lot of frustration on both sides.

I bought the book "Who Moved My Cheese?" distributed a copy to all employees in our location and gave them a deadline to have it read by. It only takes an hour to read.

Then I put together a list of questions and broke everyone up into groups with a mix of the old and the young. The groups had to work together to answer the questions.

Then we openly discussed the answers. It turned out that everyone felt a little insecure, a little threatened and nobody was communicating.

After we did this exercise, we had one strong, well developed team of people who were eager and happy to help each other. It really saved the morale of the company.

I would recommend trying something similar. Get the grievences out in the open and find out what is really bothering people. Cleanse the air!

JM in ATL

And one other thing...

I don't recommend that you fire anyone. Not just yet.

There is a reason that these people aren't getting along. If you work with them to find out what it is and work through the problem, you will get to keep your skilled and trained staff rather than having to start from scratch.

Put a little effort into this. There was a reason you hired them all in the first place.