What To Do With A Team Member Who Doesn’t Fit

What should you do when a new member of a team is great at their job and the patients love her but she doesn’t “work well with others?” We work in healthcare as a rehabilitation team we struggle for continuity in care but the new member of the team doesn’t like it when she is asked to share a patient with another therapy or make changes to her schedule. For example one discipline was short due to having a therapist out of the office. The team in that discipline bonded together to make it work but the new member chose not to help out or share equipment. This is causing other members of the team to feel as if she gets special treatment. How can we get the team back on track and help her adjust to the team?

The Team Doc Says…

She is getting special treatment. And the time to stop it is now.

Since this is a new team member, it sounds like the interview process didn’t address the soft business skills (aka EQ) that are necessary for your type of team. That’s not a good thing.

Is this team member still in the probation phase? If so, although it’s never easy to let someone go, you might want to consider that option. This team member’s uncooperative nature will probably only get worse with time.

If you really want to work with this team member and try to help her become a true part of the team, defining team roles may help and also making sure that she understands the mission and values of your organization. Some one on one coaching is in order here. Get it in place quickly before your entire team is destroyed.

What do you think? Do you have other suggestions? Leave a comment below.