When entering the town of Rudyard, Montana, visitors are greeted with this sign. . .
The last official sorehead died in 2014, so the town recently held another election. As is the custom, people were nominated and coffee cans were set up with the candidate names to collect the “votes”.
Each vote cost a dollar. Proceeds from the election support the town’s senior center, but the benefits don’t stop there. Having an elected sorehead puts this tiny town on the map. Number 59 on the Montana bucket list is to “shake the hand of Rudyard’s old sorehead or in the very least have a cup of coffee in the Sorehead Café”; and people do show up from time to time to get their pictures taken with the old sorehead.
So, what does this story have to do with project management? Hmmm. Initially, I just thought it was totally fun and worth sharing, which made me determined to find a way to fit it into a PMO blog. Let me ask you something. Have you ever had a sorehead on your project? Come on now. If these cube walls could talk – oh wait – they can. I once overheard a conversation – “If so-and-so is on the project, then I don’t want to be on it.” I have been very fortunate with my projects at DFCI, but not always in my career and in my life. Dealing with a difficult team member can impact productivity, morale, and progress. So what do you do?
I like to take the person aside and open up a dialog to listen to that person’s side of the story. I try to determine if the complaints have merit or if something else is going on in their lives. I once managed a young woman who had been a star performer and then all of a sudden she was missing deadlines and became very moody. I took her aside and gently mentioned that I had seen a change in her work and I wondered what was going on. I went on to say that it just wasn’t like her – she was a star performer. She promptly burst into tears and poured her heart out to me. She had been dating one of our co-workers and he dumped her, totally breaking her heart. Thankfully, her work quickly improved after our discussion.
On occasion, I have seen resentment and stress lead to “sorehead-like” behavior. The team member may resent that they have to learn something new, and at the same time, are stressed that they need to keep up with their regular work – already a full-time job. They may be covering for a lack of knowledge or skill. They may have had a bad experience with someone else on the team.
It could be that they resent that you are their project manager, and they believe that you don’t know anything about what they do. They wonder – “How can you possibly manage the project?” (Ouch!)
- Clarify your role as project manager versus their role as team member
- Be very clear about expectations/tasks and set deadlines
- Monitor progress
Does your team have anyone who looks like this?
I certainly hope not, but if so, Harvard Business Review has an excellent article by Amy Grant, How to Handle the Pessimist on Your Team. Amy’s principles to remember:
Do
- Find the source of the pessimism
- Differentiate between the person and the behavior
- Involve the whole team in setting norms for team behavior
Don’t
- Single the person out in front of the whole group
- Allow negative comments to go unaddressed
- Assume all pessimism is unproductive
I’d love to hear what your experiences have been so feel free to add a comment. And if by chance you wish to learn more about Rudyard, Montana, you can check out this Today Show Video – This small Montana town is about to elect its new old sorehead.