The Workplace Coach

What happens when everyone in the team gets along well, working effectively together and actually enjoy each other’s company… everyone except one person?

We will call this person Riley.

Riley has been with the team for over 18 months now and is a bit of a superstar performer who puts out quality work consistently week after week.  You might even go as far as saying that Riley is one of your best employees. And there is your first problem.

Riley makes no effort to get along with the rest of the team, actively avoiding social interactions in the workplace, never going for coffee, never sitting and chatting with the others in the lunchroom.  Most of the team would not have any idea that Riley is married with three kids, a Labrador called Jessie, and a ginger cat called Mishka.  Riley also knows next to nothing about the rest of the team either and quite frankly does not care to.  

How does this affect the team?  You might feel that everyone should maybe just be minding their own business and getting on with their jobs.  That there is no need for everybody to be best friends with everybody else. That we should all just be a little more mature about this and focus our attentions on the work.  There is your second problem.

The truth is that in a team we don’t have to be best friends with everybody. We don’t have to go for drinks every Friday after work, we don’t need to be intimately familiar with everybody’s private lives and we don’t need to connect with everyone on social media. We do however, and this is critical,  need to feel like we can trust the people we work with on a daily basis.

If you remember Lencioni’s 5 Dysfunctions of a team you will understand how important trust is in team. The team do not trust Riley, they don’t see that Riley is working for the collective good of the team, they don’t believe that Riley will back them up if they drop the ball, they don’t really know who Riley is or what Riley is all about.  This lack of trust affects the performance of the team.  The discord, distrust and discomfort created by one person’s deliberate refusal to integrate has a measurable impact on overall behaviours in the team, on team engagement and on the bottom line.

As the leader of the team you might consider proactively addressing this problem.  Start by reframing your own opinion about Riley being the ‘best performer’ in the team.  Part of Riley’s job is to work well with the team, to be a team player as well as an individual contributor, to behave in such a way as to build team cohesion and performance, and to support, collaborate and cooperate with the people in the team to enhance the results of the team.

You could start by having a conversation with Riley, during one of your weekly one-on-ones, and highlight your observations and talk about your expectations. Obviously praise the good work being done, but also make it clear that you are looking for some different behaviours going forward. 

If you have a Riley in your team and are not sure how to turn things around, make The Workplace Coach your next call or email us at info@theworkplacecoach.com.au . We are all about people and performance, and helping you get the best from your team.  Do not let one bad apple turn the whole barrel.

The Workplace Coach