LORI WILSONRETIRED - Technical Project Manager| RETIRED - LifePoint HealthClarkston, Wa, United States
I am preparing to give a presentation for a large group of project managers on Bullying and Project Management. There are many excellent resources on this ProjectManagement.com site who have created fantastic presentations and blogs on the topic of bullying - many from Paul Pelletier and others. I've tied these slides in with definitions of what bullying is, why people bully others, who is targeted, how it feels to be bullied, what the costs of bullying are to a company or to a team, the results of bullying, more subtle things that people do (eye rolling, gossiping, etc.) that are bullying behaviors, what to do when witnessing bullying, how to stand up to bullying, ways to help prevent bullying, the difference between normal conflict and bullying and tied it all in with our PMI code of ethics. Is there anything else I should include in my presentation? Have you ever experienced bullying in the workplace? If so, would you be willing to share your experience with me? Saving Changes...
Yes, bullying can happen regardless of job, position, organization type, country, etc. The point is how to deal with those situations. In a good environment, you may need to report to HR but generally, you may not be able to do anything due to some restrictions, political environment, fake/real fears, etc.
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1 reply by LORI WILSON
Jan 28, 2019 1:50 PM
LORI WILSON
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Hello Abolfazi: Thank you for your thoughts. I agree, it can be very challenging to report bullying and it is very important for project managers to have both the skills to call it out when appropriate and the best skills to appropriately deal with bullying.
Saving Changes...
LORI WILSONRETIRED - Technical Project Manager| RETIRED - LifePoint HealthClarkston, Wa, United States
Hello Sripriya: Thank you so much for sharing your experience. I've heard from so many people who have been bullied that it also took their strength and energy. Many felt their self-confidence was damaged in these situations, but like you there is hope for rebuilding confidence and strength after removing yourself from the situation. It sounds like you are doing very well now and sharing your story helps bring hope to others. Bringing awareness to companies about all the costs involved with tolerating bullying is an important message for us to send - one example of these costs is losing good employees like you! Saving Changes...
Dinah YoungProject Manager / Software Asset Manager| Prince William CountySpringfield, Va, United States
Workplace bullying is an important topic and I am glad that you are trying to be proactive. At the Washington DC, PMI Symposium last year we had a great speaker, S.L.Young who gave a very informative talk about the different kinds of bullying and the effects. He was very open in telling us that in his case, he contemplated suicide.
Then in our October Chapter meeting we had a discussion on A Toxic Work Environment Impacts Organizational Health by Nicole L. Turner. The question and answer session afterwards went on longer than any other in a long time.
People want to talk about these incidents. They find out they happen much more than many think they do. And they occur in many different ways.
In a large group of people who work with each other, you may find that people are hesitant to open up as much. You may want to have them break off into smaller groups at some point to talk amongst themselves about the bullying they have seen, how they handled it, how bullying has affected them, etc.
Bringing in an external speaker may also have it benefits. Just a thought.
Good luck with your presentation.
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1 reply by LORI WILSON
Jan 28, 2019 1:54 PM
LORI WILSON
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Hello Dinah: Thank you for sharing about the presentations on this subject or similar subjects that you have participated in. Your insight is very interesting and helpful to me. It is so sad the people in the workplace are being bullied and feel the stress so intensely that suicide is contemplated. As project managers we have such an obligation to watch out for this and ensure we create safe environments in the workplace where creativity, openness, and respectful interactions occur. Thank you for the various suggestions, I am considering them all carefully.
Saving Changes...
William M Hayden JrAdjunct Assistant Professor| University at Buffalo, School of Management, Operations Management & StrategyBuffalo, Ny, United States
If I may, suggest the following background reading helps build a common foundation for the dialogue herein, as well as, perhaps, for the session planned.
International Journal of Project Management 35 (2017) 964–977
"The effects of workplace bullying on team learning, innovation and project success as mediated through virtual and traditional team dynamics"
www.elsevier.com/locate/ijproman
Todd Creasy ?, Andrew Carnes
Department of Economics, Management and Project Management, Western Carolina University, USA
Received 8 November 2016; received in revised form 11 April 2017; accepted 12 April 2017
Available online 2 May 2017
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1 reply by LORI WILSON
Jan 28, 2019 1:55 PM
LORI WILSON
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William, this is very helpful. I will definitely review these. Thank you so much for sharing with me!
Saving Changes...
LORI WILSONRETIRED - Technical Project Manager| RETIRED - LifePoint HealthClarkston, Wa, United States
Jan 25, 2019 8:08 AM
Replying to Abolfazl Yousefi Darestani
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Yes, bullying can happen regardless of job, position, organization type, country, etc. The point is how to deal with those situations. In a good environment, you may need to report to HR but generally, you may not be able to do anything due to some restrictions, political environment, fake/real fears, etc.
Hello Abolfazi: Thank you for your thoughts. I agree, it can be very challenging to report bullying and it is very important for project managers to have both the skills to call it out when appropriate and the best skills to appropriately deal with bullying. Saving Changes...
LORI WILSONRETIRED - Technical Project Manager| RETIRED - LifePoint HealthClarkston, Wa, United States
Jan 25, 2019 12:35 PM
Replying to Dinah Young
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Workplace bullying is an important topic and I am glad that you are trying to be proactive. At the Washington DC, PMI Symposium last year we had a great speaker, S.L.Young who gave a very informative talk about the different kinds of bullying and the effects. He was very open in telling us that in his case, he contemplated suicide.
Then in our October Chapter meeting we had a discussion on A Toxic Work Environment Impacts Organizational Health by Nicole L. Turner. The question and answer session afterwards went on longer than any other in a long time.
People want to talk about these incidents. They find out they happen much more than many think they do. And they occur in many different ways.
In a large group of people who work with each other, you may find that people are hesitant to open up as much. You may want to have them break off into smaller groups at some point to talk amongst themselves about the bullying they have seen, how they handled it, how bullying has affected them, etc.
Bringing in an external speaker may also have it benefits. Just a thought.
Good luck with your presentation.
Hello Dinah: Thank you for sharing about the presentations on this subject or similar subjects that you have participated in. Your insight is very interesting and helpful to me. It is so sad the people in the workplace are being bullied and feel the stress so intensely that suicide is contemplated. As project managers we have such an obligation to watch out for this and ensure we create safe environments in the workplace where creativity, openness, and respectful interactions occur. Thank you for the various suggestions, I am considering them all carefully. Saving Changes...
LORI WILSONRETIRED - Technical Project Manager| RETIRED - LifePoint HealthClarkston, Wa, United States
Jan 25, 2019 2:41 PM
Replying to William M Hayden Jr
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If I may, suggest the following background reading helps build a common foundation for the dialogue herein, as well as, perhaps, for the session planned.
International Journal of Project Management 35 (2017) 964–977
"The effects of workplace bullying on team learning, innovation and project success as mediated through virtual and traditional team dynamics"
www.elsevier.com/locate/ijproman
Todd Creasy ?, Andrew Carnes
Department of Economics, Management and Project Management, Western Carolina University, USA
Received 8 November 2016; received in revised form 11 April 2017; accepted 12 April 2017
Available online 2 May 2017
William, this is very helpful. I will definitely review these. Thank you so much for sharing with me! Saving Changes...
Lori, this is a very sensitive topic I am glad that you took initiative to do presentation I hope you cover the common discriminations ground which contribute to some of the root causes for Bullying and then you have the systematic discrimination which cause other Bullying. Saving Changes...
LORI WILSONRETIRED - Technical Project Manager| RETIRED - LifePoint HealthClarkston, Wa, United States
Hello Riyahd: Thank you for your support and I will definitely be sharing causes for bullying. I was very surprised to learn that often when we are children a bully will target others for being different, a loner or someone who appears weaker.....but in the workplace, it is often someone skilled and talented, even popular who is bullied. Many times it is an ethical and honest person being bullied. It is a fascinating topic and I feel very honored to bring this carefully into our group discussion - to build awareness and open the topic for discussion. Saving Changes...
Nicole WhiteProgram Coordinator| Rochester, NYNy, United States
I have experienced bullying of many different types. As it relates to project management, I have had to work with bullies who withhold information or give wrong/inconsistent information in order to control other's perceptions of me and my quality of work. This is very frustrating, as if you attempt to confront or let others know what is going on, it is structured to make you look bad even more. The constant need to confront/clarify information is draining. Saving Changes...
