I am not in a supervisory position, but appreciate (as
an employee, student, and volunteer)having clear and
specific direction, limits and defined autonomy, (not
loose policy), so that I never feel "damned    if I
do, and ditto if I don't" - in that case, I    am
inclined to "do." Too many managers leave ways    to
interpret to their own advantage or just mood.

And of course, employees and managers may just enjoy
playing "uproar" or "intrigue" - never being satisfied
with a calm and smooth-running workplace, perhaps
never having worked in one. They are usually hopeless
cases. Saying something like "I am interpreting it
this way. What are YOU thinking?"  early on may be
necessary.

Ruth Bowman, Student
School of Library and Information Science
San Jose State University

--- [log in to unmask] wrote:

> Sound advice!  Thanks so much for the thoughtful
> posting.
> 
> Of course the workplace rarely is one big happy
> family.  So, I ask you and 
> other other managers out there about one of the
> biggest challenges:  handling 
> the people who stir up trouble behind the scenes but
> who don't do things that 
> necessarily warrants "adverse action."  I'm not
> thinking of differences in 
> personality types, any group is going to have some
> of that, but of people who 
> actually make it harder for peers to do their work
> or cause workplace misery..
> 
> You don't take credit for others' work and give
> credit where it's due.  
> Excellent!  But how do you handle people who steal
> others' ideas, play zero sum 
> games, intimidate colleagues or otherwise show
> competitive streaks, not in a 
> healthy way, but in a corrosive manner?  Some of
> these people might be 
> brown-nosing or too slick to spot readily.  Are
> their actions visible to you?  Or are 
> these the "undiscussables" that everyone whispers
> about but never talks about 
> with the boss?  That can be very corrosive longterm.
> 
> Are you successful in getting subordinates to
> confide in you? (Building that 
> high trust workplace that Ryan and Oestreich
> discuss.)  That often seems to be 
> one of the biggest challenges from the managerial
> viewpoint -- the 
> withholding by employees of information you should
> know about. If you feel able to 
> discuss any of this, in a general sense and without
> mentioning indentifiable 
> individuals or specific cases related to your
> current workplace, do share your 
> thoughts.  I'm not dealing with these types of
> problem myself but in a 
> philosophical sense I'm interested in strategies for
> dealing with behaviors that undermine 
> workplace morale.  
> 
> REPLIES OFF LIST would be welcome, natch.
> 
> Maarja
> 
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