By Dr. Z
There are different strokes for different folks. In your professional life, you will likely encounter the kind of folks whose unique strokes makes them tough to work with. In related articles, we shared tips for working with dysfunctional or toxic team embers that could impact work performance. This article focuses on 5 unusual team members that are not quite dysfunctional or toxic, but will need support to work well with the team.
Odd Todd
There is nothing wrong with being unique or different. In fact, our differences and unique contributions is what makes the team effective. However, Odd Todd’s differences are out of this world. He goes out of his way to break team norms, and violate conventional standards. In his mind, he is special and above common practice. He believes that he is in a class by himself, and everyone else should march to his beat. In reality, Odd Todd is not special. He is just immature, incompetent, and delusional.
Solutions: As a team leader, you will need to take a very directive approach to get him on the same page make him play by the rules. Be clear about the values, mission, and goals of the team. Let him know that deviations are not allowed. And, give him specific responsibilities to follow up on.
Rigid Richard
Rigid Richard is somewhat of an asset to the team because he is compliant and rule bound. He is a straight arrow with a predictable and standard approach to the expected team routines. However, every team will encounter complex situations that will require out-of-the box reasoning. Under these circumstances, flexible thinking and creative problem-solving is involved. The problem with Rigid Richard is that he is not able to think outside of the box. To Rigid Richard, the world is flat, the color is either black or white, and things are either possible or impossible. He is not able to go with the flow of problems to find unique ways to solve them. If a strategy is not in the rule book, he cannot or will not pursue it. As a result, the team misses out on important opportunities to rectify unusual situations due to Richard’s Rigidity.
Solutions: Team Leaders will not be able to change Rigid Richard. However, there is a win-win opportunity here. Rigid Richard can be strategically assigned to those team tasks that require absolute compliance to regulations. Make him the subject matter expert on all things related to the rules.
Angry Angie
Every team member has a bad day. But, Angry Angie has a bad day every day due to anger. She is a walking fusion bomb, set to explode at any moment. She is angry about everything, including leadership decisions, team processes, team member contributions, and just about anything beyond the team’s control. Her anger becomes a problem to the team when she acts on that anger. This may involve fault-finding, subtle put downs, withdrawal from activities, withholding contributions, and repeated personal arguments within and beyond the team. Angry Angie has a problem, which must be addressed.
Solutions: There is hope for Angry Angie. If Team Leaders can address the anger, they may ultimately adjust the behavior. Team Leaders will need to meet with Angry Angie, inquire about what is making her angry, and explore resources to remedy the source of the anger. Team Leaders should also help reorient her to positive pro-team behaviors, with encouragement, acknowledgement, and discipline if needed.
Deborah Debate
Deborah Debate is oppositional and loves to argue, even when he knows she is wrong. She does not care about having the right information. She is more interested in engaging other team members in an unnecessary fight about the information. Likewise, Deborah Debate’s need to fight is not motivated by anger, pre-existing conflict, or a healthy contest of ideas. Instead, she fights just for the sake of fighting. Team Leaders can identify Deborah Debate by the entry strategies that she uses to lay the trap to an argument. She is the person who always unnecessarily plays “Devil’s Advocate”, always enters the conversation with a “yes but” rebuttal, and always raises hypothetical concerns that are neither valid nor directly consequential for the current issue being discussed by the team. At the end of the day, Deborah Debate is not presenting ideas to refine the process. She only wants to fight, which is disruptive and divisive for the team.
Solutions: Team Leaders will need to preempt Deborah Debate’s efforts with a strong vision and purpose, backed by strong command decisions that leaves very little room for doubt in the team. Deborah Debate can also be encouraged to proactively write out ideas for an upcoming team decision, then choose the best of those ideas to incorporate within the team’s processes. This way, Deborah Debate is always engaged an included, in a manner that neutralizes the need to fight. Nevertheless, if the oppositional fighting continues, Deborah Debate will have to be confronted and counseled to reorient her behavior.
Paranoid Lloyd
Paranoid Lloyd is fearful and does not trust anyone on the team. His paranoia and lack of trust interferes with his ability to truly be a part of the team. At some point, he is likely to suspect wrongdoing that is mostly imagined, or perceive slights that while alter his relationships and performances on the team. Team Leaders will recognize Paranoid Loyd by the nature of his gripes. He is always singled out, always the center of scrutiny, always concerned about people’s real intentions, and always doubtful of others’ motives.
Solutions: Team Leaders will need to refocus Paranoid Lloyd through concrete reality testing of his concerns, which may involve debunking his fantasy that the team and the rest of the world, is out to make his life miserable. If all else fails, Paranoid Loyd can be encouraged to choose another team that he deems trustworthy.
Photo by Ihor Malytskyi at Unsplash