One of the members of my team is an excellent employee in all ways but one. Her problem area is that she has almost no respect for any of her coworkers. When it comes to understanding that a team is made up a variety of strengths and weaknesses, she doesn’t seem to get it. She feels as though she’s the hardest working, most productive person in the unit and judges everyone by that standard. She is very productive, but there are other strengths that she lacks and that other people have. How do I get her to understand that it takes more than one kind of person to build a better mousetrap, without making her feel unappreciated (since she’s quick to claim that nobody likes her, appreciates her, sees her great strength already)?
The Team Doc Says…
Sounds like you have a prima donna team member on your hands. What you have to decide before you go any further is whether or not this team member is really worth the high maintenance she demands. If you decide that she is, it is important that you help each team member understand how every single one of them is part of the whole.
Try having a weekly team meeting where each team member is assigned another team member to value — you need to make the assignments. Their assignment would be to say, “I value [team member] because…” Sometimes people just don’t know how much others value them because we’re not in the habit of saying it. Making the explicit effort to ensure this activity takes place is an important part of being an effective team.
Something else you could do is to take the time to document process maps for each outcome expected from your team. This would help them see where they are tied together and dependent on each other’s work.
More info on this topic at:
