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 I have been a member for over 2 years but this is my first venture into the forums. I would like some assistance regarding handling a situation with an apparently bullying team leader. I lead 5 teams of 94 staff in a government organisation in Australia. I have four team leaders directly reporting to me. I lead the other team. One of the team leaders has had a variety of issues over the last couple of years both with her own health - she had a work place accident resulting in a back injury, and her home life cause issues. During this time there have been incidents within her team. A couple of major ones have been handled correctly by her in regards to legislation and protocol and I have supported and mentored her through these. One is still unresolved by upper management even though they assure her there is nothing to worry about. She is attempting to get final resolution but upper management are dragging their heels and not providing support, this is a common occurrence. They require us to performance manage staff but then don't provide back up. This contributes to this team leader's stress levels.

I conduct fairly regular one on ones and during these attempt to provide guidance on handling situations and the desired behaviours. There have been rumours oft this team leader of 'bullying' staff and putting pressure on them to perform. Her staff appear to be scared of her. Whenever I have endeavoured to explore the situations the staff back down and the team leader claims that they misinterpreted her actions. She also claims that she modifies her behaviour after our discussions. She claims they are a happy team. They are a fairly high performing team, it is mainly computer based processing work. She is always willing to take on extra tasks and willingly attends manager training sessions.

I was approached by two new members of her team on Friday. They have come from another section and still learning our work. They both claimed varying degrees of bullying behaviour over the last two weeks. They don't wish to formalize their complaints at this point but obviously want it to stop,. My thoughts are to ask the team leader what type of behaviour she excepts from myself and then how do I react when she does not complete a task I have set etc, then hopefully ask why she can not give her staff the same courtesy. My concerns are obviously for the well being of her team but also her own welfare. I feel if I confront her it may cause her to go off on stress related leave. She continually tells me she does not need to speak to EAP even though I found her shaking with rage the other day about the issue mentioned above. I am concerned that this team leader is now past modifying her behaviour and has been lying to me about her approach with staff.

jhbchina's picture

You meet with EAP to develop an action plan on how to give guidance. Talk to HR about you can and can't do. If possible schedule a meeting with EAP and your team leader.

I am concerned for the whole team and your success. To that end, I have arranged a meeting so that I can learn how to help you move forward. Based on HR's advise, I have requested assistance from a third party so that we find the correct action to take. Please trust me that my intent is to what is best for you and the team.

If the individual refuses, step up the feedback and start documentation.

This is a challenge for you lead us to assume that she has been involved incidents that could have resulted in disciplinary action, though none was taken.

"During this time there have been incidents within her team. A couple of major ones have been handled correctly by her in regards to legislation and protocol and I have supported and mentored her through these. One is still unresolved by upper management even though they assure her there is nothing to worry about."

JHB "00"

jhack's picture

First, characterizations ("bullying") are not behaviors.  You're dealing with "gossip" (in part) so make sure you're up to speed on these casts: 

http://www.manager-tools.com/2009/01/gossip-avoidance

http://www.manager-tools.com/2010/01/how-stop-gossip

And you've got complaints - which are a form of feedback.  This cast deals with how to handle those who come to you: 

http://www.manager-tools.com/2006/05/receiving-feedback-about-your-directs

Key there: be careful about what is real behavior and what is not.  You can only ask for changes in behavior, and nothing in your post discusses behavior at all.  You're characterizing her and the complaints about her.  You must be specific:  "She shouts," or "She uses profanity," or "She told the team member he'd be fired if he didn't move faster."   

Finally, this one phrase in your post caught my eye:  "I feel if I confront her it may cause her to go off on stress related leave."  If you were doing weekly one on ones ("fairly regular" isn't enough under the circumstances) and were having frank conversations about performance and behavior, you wouldn't be thinking of this as a confrontation, you would know how she would react, and and you would be fully prepared for her to go on leave if that were to be the outcome. 

My advice:  Find out what the actual behavior is.  Have weekly one on ones, and be frank (and friendly, and helpful) about her performance and behavior.  And make sure your teams can be effective if she leaves.  You've got 94 staff and 4 leads.  One person can't be that important. 

John Hack

Tjmccormick's picture
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I recently received feedback about some of our supervisors and managers being "bullies."

This feels very similar to "you have an 'attitude' problem."  Our conversation should be about behaviors, not labels.

What specific behaviors or patterns of behavior should a director look for and cite in feedback to the manager?

What guidance can the organization give to employees who are simply being held accountable for results and bristle at the manager's firm expectations?

What is the difference between an MT Manager and an EMPTY Bully?

Anyone have a solid HR policy on this that is more than eyewash, but provides behavioral expectations and a process for an individual to deal with their 'bully boss'?

dmb41carter36's picture

Specifics are required. When someone would come to be and state "They are being bullied", I would simply ask for specific examples at specific times. For example, "Jim, told me I need to hurry up or I will get written up, yesterday afternoon."

Try as much as possible to get verbatum what actually happened. As JHack mentioned, there's a huge difference between "You need to change your attitude" and "When you use that tone to talk about x with Jim, he is likely to feel bullied. Can you change that?
 

Also, get to the work area if at all possible. Try to listen in to his interactions with people.See what his behavior really is. Lastly, consider coaching the person on the DISC model. Often, the supervisor is a high D and individual line workers are an S (Or other conflicting profile). If you follow MT, I don't need to go into detail to explain the benefits of using the DISC model to modify your behavior effectively.

Lastly, consider 360 feedback. In concert with your local HR, of coarse. Sometimes, feedback from others can help someone realize something they are not seeing.