Sisca YuliharyaniSr. PM Consultant | Chief Strategy Officer| IndonesiaBandung, West Java, Indonesia
How do you deal with one of your project member that not cooperative? The project is on going and you have been assigned as PM in the middle of the project (so you didn’t choose him/her, you just accept). This member is very difficult people and destroy the other team morale. But you can’t just get the rid of he/she because it will impact the project schedule and cost. Saving Changes...
Sisca:
Rarely do PMs ever get to choose their projects, teams, sponsors etc. Many responses here but you always have choices to do the following:
Manage the team member using conflict mgt techniques
Use your leadership EI to determine this members motivations to not be a team player
Give this person some time to get used to your leadership style and for you to better understand their value add to the project.
Weigh options to pursue conflict directly, escalate to their manager and work to diffuse their negativity on morale.
Conflict can either tear a team apart of pull them closer together; focus everyone on the common goal and what they all bring to the table.
Go team! Saving Changes...
I am not sure how your organization works but if it is a typical one then these kind of problems are the responsibility of the line manager.
But first of all you need to make sure that the team member is really not cooperative. Maybe he has found out or thinks that the project has no chance of succeeding or he does not agree with the way the work is going to be performed. Some employees may look uncooperative but in reality they may be the best performers.
But then again if he/she is really uncooperative you should escalate this issue to the line manager. The responsibility of the line manager regarding the project also plays a very important part. If the line manager has no responsibility for the project then he may not get involved in solving the problem but instead he may just let his/her employee do whatever he/she wants. In this case you need to escalate even higher. Saving Changes...
Have you inquired the reason for that, was the person a good team member before the change of PM? What are the root cause? Expecting to be the PM! Saving Changes...
Prashant SonwaneSr. Program Manager| Winjit Technologies Pvt LtdNashik, Maharashtra, India
Hi Sisca,
In such situation I will do the following analysis, 1. Why PM has been introduced in the middle of the project? 2. What is the current status of project? Is it running on-time or behind the schedule etc., Is there any prior conflicts in the team? Are the right peoples are involved for right tasks in the team?
3. While assigning PM to the project, has s(he) allocated any specific duties/responsibilities? has it communicated to the team by management? 4. Is your team in comfort zone and s(he) is pulling the team out of comfort zone ? 5. If everything is fine with all above criteria's then in such cases clear cut communication and expectations within the team needs to be discussed so that everyone should understand responsibilities to be on the same page of deliverables. 6. Cooperation & Commitment within the team is highly appreciated to overcome on the issues. 7. In worst case, involve higher management to address such issues
Hope this could help. Saving Changes...
Sisca YuliharyaniSr. PM Consultant | Chief Strategy Officer| IndonesiaBandung, West Java, Indonesia
Hello everyone many thanks for the advice.
One of my project team who is uncooperative is because of he/she is lack of experience in the field of what is he doing right now. This is his/her first assignment with such title, i asked about this straight to him/her and he/she admitted it, but the HR Manager didn't know about this, HR Manager thinks this person is really experience in this area (according to the interview and data that my HR Manager can't prove at all), so i think that's the root cause of everything! :)
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1 reply by Adrian Carlogea
May 26, 2017 1:26 AM
Adrian Carlogea
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Why do you say he/she and him/her? Don't you know the gender of the team member? :)
Is the team member a contractor working for another company? If he/she is not a contractor but a permanent employee then he/she should have a line manager. The line managers and not the project managers are usually responsible for the employees working on projects.
Also normally the HR manager is not responsible for determining if a candidate for a position is qualified or not. The HR manager, actually the HR recruiter looks up for people that may be qualified but the final decisions is usually taken by a line manager or by someone that is an expert in the line of work of the candidate and can evaluate his/her technical skills.
If your company does not have other experts in the line of work of this so called uncooperative team member then yes you have a problem because you have to rely on external sources to find suitable candidates and your company can't determine if the candidates are really suitable.
Hello everyone many thanks for the advice.
One of my project team who is uncooperative is because of he/she is lack of experience in the field of what is he doing right now. This is his/her first assignment with such title, i asked about this straight to him/her and he/she admitted it, but the HR Manager didn't know about this, HR Manager thinks this person is really experience in this area (according to the interview and data that my HR Manager can't prove at all), so i think that's the root cause of everything! :)
Why do you say he/she and him/her? Don't you know the gender of the team member? :)
Is the team member a contractor working for another company? If he/she is not a contractor but a permanent employee then he/she should have a line manager. The line managers and not the project managers are usually responsible for the employees working on projects.
Also normally the HR manager is not responsible for determining if a candidate for a position is qualified or not. The HR manager, actually the HR recruiter looks up for people that may be qualified but the final decisions is usually taken by a line manager or by someone that is an expert in the line of work of the candidate and can evaluate his/her technical skills.
If your company does not have other experts in the line of work of this so called uncooperative team member then yes you have a problem because you have to rely on external sources to find suitable candidates and your company can't determine if the candidates are really suitable. Saving Changes...
Sisca YuliharyaniSr. PM Consultant | Chief Strategy Officer| IndonesiaBandung, West Java, Indonesia
Dear Adrian,
Why do you say he/she and him/her? Don't you know the gender of the team member? :)
-- LOL, Haha
Is the team member a contractor working for another company? If he/she is not a contractor but a permanent employee then he/she should have a line manager. The line managers and not the project managers are usually responsible for the employees working on projects. --
Permanent employee, yes he/she has the line manager (i also have the discussion from his/her line manager about this problem, but the line manager can't help me.
Also normally the HR manager is not responsible for determining if a candidate for a position is qualified or not. The HR manager, actually the HR recruiter looks up for people that may be qualified but the final decisions is usually taken by a line manager or by someone that is an expert in the line of work of the candidate and can evaluate his/her technical skills.
-- Yes, HR manager is not responsible for it, but this uncooperative team member lied about his/her last job title in his/her previous company to the HR manager
If your company does not have other experts in the line of work of this so called uncooperative team member then yes you have a problem because you have to rely on external sources to find suitable candidates and your company can't determine if the candidates are really suitable.
-- Yup, that's why i posted this question in the first place Saving Changes...
John TiesoAuthor, Lecturer in Business Management| The Catholic University of America, Busch School of Business & EconomicsArlington, Va, United States
Sisca, I might suggest that you do not have an 'uncooperative' team member, you have an 'inexperienced' team member. As I see it, you have three options here; (1) let HR know this person is not qualified, and you need a replacement, (2) work with the team member to provide them some on-the-job training, if possible, to make them ore productive, or (3) pair them with someone who can help them gain exposure and experience. Depending on the situation and or all of the three might be possible solutions.
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2 replies by Adrian Carlogea and Sisca Yuliharyani
May 27, 2017 3:40 AM
Adrian Carlogea
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Hi John
I agree that in this case we don't have lack of cooperation but lack of experience. Still I don't find a good idea to train the team member during the project as the training could take long time and the dead-line could be missed by a long period of time.
In my opinion inexperienced employees should only work on projects as long as there are enough experienced team members capable of completing the project without them. Some inexperienced team members may find out during the project that they don't like the job so they will switch to something else without ever getting the required experience.
In addition, unless he/she is also a good technical expert, I don't think training employees is or should be the responsibility of the PM. Training employees is basically the responsibility of functional managers.
In this case I can't think at another solution than trying to get a more experienced team member on board. This should also be the responsibility of the functional manager but as far as I understood from Sisca, the functional manager in this case said that he could not help.
May 28, 2017 9:03 PM
Sisca Yuliharyani
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Dear John,
Yes, i have inexperienced and also uncooperative team member (this person really uncooperative in executing the tasks, and his/her behavior made other team members difficult to execute their tasks because of his/her attitude). I am now working on how to make this person be more cooperative, at least so that others can uncover the "hidden" issue because of his/her inexperience in this field.
1. I told the HR about this issue and ask for new resource not for this project, but i think i might need in future project (some projects will be start soon, and i have to prepare good resource for this)
2. The training is impossible, since the schedule is very tight for this project (but this is possible before he/she assigned to other projects)
3. Yes, now i am doing like this advice (but the purpose is so that me, my team member and the project aren't so rely on him/her)
Thanks for your thought, i really appreciate it...
Sisca, I might suggest that you do not have an 'uncooperative' team member, you have an 'inexperienced' team member. As I see it, you have three options here; (1) let HR know this person is not qualified, and you need a replacement, (2) work with the team member to provide them some on-the-job training, if possible, to make them ore productive, or (3) pair them with someone who can help them gain exposure and experience. Depending on the situation and or all of the three might be possible solutions.
Hi John
I agree that in this case we don't have lack of cooperation but lack of experience. Still I don't find a good idea to train the team member during the project as the training could take long time and the dead-line could be missed by a long period of time.
In my opinion inexperienced employees should only work on projects as long as there are enough experienced team members capable of completing the project without them. Some inexperienced team members may find out during the project that they don't like the job so they will switch to something else without ever getting the required experience.
In addition, unless he/she is also a good technical expert, I don't think training employees is or should be the responsibility of the PM. Training employees is basically the responsibility of functional managers.
In this case I can't think at another solution than trying to get a more experienced team member on board. This should also be the responsibility of the functional manager but as far as I understood from Sisca, the functional manager in this case said that he could not help.
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2 replies by John Tieso and Sisca Yuliharyani
May 27, 2017 10:10 AM
John Tieso
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Don't disagree, necessarily, Adrian, but in the situation described, you have team members already on board, and at least one with difficulties. My comments were directed toward trying to find a mdian ground here. You don't just fire the person, if they have potential, including sending them back to their functional manager, if there are other alternatives., such as putting them with someone more experienced.
Of course, if it is a small, or very technical-oriented team, you may have no choice, but, again, I would try to find alternatives first.
May 28, 2017 9:09 PM
Sisca Yuliharyani
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Dear Adrian,
I agree that in this case we don't have lack of cooperation but lack of experience. Still I don't find a good idea to train the team member during the project as the training could take long time and the dead-line could be missed by a long period of time. --)) I have team member that lack of cooperation (and that happen not just because of his/her lack of experience, but also because of his/her attitude). In this case, i agree that training will impact the schedule.
In my opinion inexperienced employees should only work on projects as long as there are enough experienced team members capable of completing the project without them. Some inexperienced team members may find out during the project that they don't like the job so they will switch to something else without ever getting the required experience. In addition, unless he/she is also a good technical expert, I don't think training employees is or should be the responsibility of the PM. Training employees is basically the responsibility of functional managers. --)) Agreed
Thanks for your thought, really appreciate it..
Saving Changes...
John TiesoAuthor, Lecturer in Business Management| The Catholic University of America, Busch School of Business & EconomicsArlington, Va, United States
May 27, 2017 3:40 AM
Replying to Adrian Carlogea
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Hi John
I agree that in this case we don't have lack of cooperation but lack of experience. Still I don't find a good idea to train the team member during the project as the training could take long time and the dead-line could be missed by a long period of time.
In my opinion inexperienced employees should only work on projects as long as there are enough experienced team members capable of completing the project without them. Some inexperienced team members may find out during the project that they don't like the job so they will switch to something else without ever getting the required experience.
In addition, unless he/she is also a good technical expert, I don't think training employees is or should be the responsibility of the PM. Training employees is basically the responsibility of functional managers.
In this case I can't think at another solution than trying to get a more experienced team member on board. This should also be the responsibility of the functional manager but as far as I understood from Sisca, the functional manager in this case said that he could not help.
Don't disagree, necessarily, Adrian, but in the situation described, you have team members already on board, and at least one with difficulties. My comments were directed toward trying to find a mdian ground here. You don't just fire the person, if they have potential, including sending them back to their functional manager, if there are other alternatives., such as putting them with someone more experienced.
Of course, if it is a small, or very technical-oriented team, you may have no choice, but, again, I would try to find alternatives first. Saving Changes...
