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Dealing with a team member who is a bully

3.5.2021 Print

As a manager, you will not always be dealing only with pleasant matters. You are obliged, amongst other things, to detect if the behaviour of any team member goes beyond certain limits, interferes with the work of others, insults them, intimidates them, stresses them out or is in any way uncomfortable for them. If there is someone in your team who tends to intimidate, exploit or even bully other people, you must act immediately. Here is a manual on how to do it.

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Step 1: Get the facts straight

According to The Muse, it is important not to act on mere assumptions. You must work with facts. And you must also first get to know and verify those facts. Find out what the matter is. Gather concrete evidence that something is happening which should not be happening. Get to know the situation and have a clear idea about what is going on.

Step 2: Talk to all the involved parties

Before speaking to the bully, talk to everybody else involved. Learn what their opinion of the bully is, what specifically they dislike about their behaviour and how the bullying tendencies manifest themselves. Before dealing with the whole affair, you must have specific witness testimonies from other people.

Step 3: Talk to the bully

It is now time to sit down with the main person in the whole affair. Explain to them calmly what the facts are, what you have heard from others (do not go into detail – rather speak in general terms), and what the next steps are. Explain to the given person that their behaviour is seen negatively, and give specific examples. Then tell them what will happen next and what exactly you expect from them in the future.

Step 4: Take the most crucial steps immediately

If it is necessary to take any specific steps immediately to calm the situation and take them as soon as possible. You might need to separate the bully from certain people, reorganise your team or re-evaluate the distribution of work among individual employees so that your projects are not threatened.

Step 5: Notify HR or management

If the situation requires it, communicate the situation to your HR department or management. They can help you and give advice, and in any case they should know what is going on. Together, you might also decide whether it is perhaps necessary to dismiss the bully.

Step 6: Monitor the situation and check it regularly

Even if you succeed in solving the immediate problem, you still need to monitor the situation in the future. Once in a while you should sit down individually with the people involved to ensure everything is okay. Check on developments and do not become too comfortable just because there appear to have been no problems for a long time.

 

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Article source The Muse - U.S. website focused on smart career advice and long-term professional development
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