I joined a new department in January as the Administrative Coordinator. I have five direct reports, one of which is completely overwhelmed/overburdened, one that chose to leave rather than put up with my "rules", one that requires training and direction, and two that are... to put it mildly... troublesome.
The administrative staff in this area are perceived very negatively by the people they support directly, colleagues in other units in the department and various other departments they are required to interact with. While there is some deficiency in training and base skillset compared to units I have worked with previously, I truly believe most of this negativity is due mainly to the two troublesome individuals' attitudes and lack of abilities, and to the fact that little structure, guidance and support has been provided to the entire group in the past.
Different members of the unit have been treated differently in the past, so there is some animosity amongst co-workers. I have spent the past four months establishing baseline policies so that we can move forward with the exact same expectations for each member of the group. I am working on updating some of the truly outdated procedures. I am working with individuals to create modern, useful tools (such as databases! and new software) to help lighten some of the labor intensive work. I am working with the overburdened/overwhelmed to try to lighten her load, but the fact that the faculty perceive the rest of the group as incompetent does not give me much wiggle room.
My question is... if YOU were part of this group, would you want to know how people perceive you so you could work to change that perception? Should I have an honest, frank discussion with them about it or should I just try to manage behind the scenes as I have been? What is your advice on how to handle this situation?
Please note that these are all staffers that have been here for between six and fourteen years. In a University setting, this means that I cannot simply fire anyone. I have to pursue a progressive disciplinary process... which I AM pursuing in at least one case... but it is a long process and I have to work with what I have in the meantime.
Submitted by: Anonymous
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I had a similar situation and had 7 direct reports. Because I did not reallly know what there skillsets were, I had each one of them update their resume, and complete a work history. I then set up appointments for them to reapply for their current positions. Of course, I had the blessings of my supervisor but what I found through this process was the troublesome people had been in their positions too long and needed to challenged with something new. I also found that their skillsets were not up to the expections required of the position, so after meeting with each one in the interview part, found that they had skills that were comparable to other positions within the group. We rewrote position descriptions, matched skillsets to specific positions but didn't stop there--found ways to send them to professional development classes to either improve and enhance what skills they had. Some attained skills they never had and they felt as though they were cared for and in turn wanted to be a team. As a group they had meeting separate from me and then the team lead (basically the person who had seniority) would come back to me to brief me on what they come up with for suggestions for improvement in office procedure, rules they could live with and I then took the suggestions, if necessary, to management for implementation. Wish you the best.
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MLC on
5/19/2011 5:55:32 PM
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Thank you all for your ideas, suggestions and kind words! Four months in and I truly AM feeling exhausted at the moment. I don't believe that upper management understands what they are asking of this position. It very well may be that the high expectations are what caused the previous two people that held this position to be unsuccessful. I will be taking several pieces of this advice to heart. Weekly group meetings on Monday. I have offered training and will continue to do so. At least once per month, but possibly every other week, group meeting will be a training session. We will discuss what the current perception of the group is. We will discuss what they feel about that... why they think it is that way... what can be done to change it... etc. I want to fully involve them in this process so that this "team" becomes something they can be proud of and fully participate in. Weekly individual meetings will occur on Friday. We will discuss goals, long and short term. THANK YOU! It truly fortifies me and shores me up to hear that a) I am not alone in this and b) it really IS a lot! lol
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Anonymous on
5/19/2011 2:05:35 PM
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This is truly a large project and can be over whelming if you look at the big picture. I do think it is very important that the department know how they are perceived by those outside of the department. I think a department meeting/planning session would be a great place to start. I would suggest you share a goal of being the best and most productive department in the University and then ask each of them to help achieve that goal. I would task each person to write a bullet sheet of tasks they perceive are their responsibilities and any barriers to success in achieving completion of those goals, as well as assets/tools that help them achieve those goals. The purpose of these bullet sheets would be to define what you do in your department and identify duplication of tasks (if any) as well as the work load spread. Having this information provided by the staff removes any perceived bias on your part and will encourage your staff to be part of the problem solving. Stress that efficiency and success of the department is the goal and you want them to be part of the problem solving process. Often times this type of approach will help the staff understand the seriousness of their job and give them an opportunity to step up or step out. Maybe those who need training would welcome that if it were to be offered. Sometimes education/training for secretarial support staff is never offered because it has never crossed the supervisor?s mind that they need or want it.
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Anonymous on
5/19/2011 1:18:53 PM
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Hi,
Just reading your post made me feel exhausted and I could only image how exhausted you are being the one to revamp this department. My advice to you is honesty is the best policy. You need to let these workers know how others truly perceive them. A little criticism can hurt in the short-term, but in the long-term will only help motivate them to correct their bad habits. On the other hand, no one likes criticisms, but if it is giving in a construct way, it can be used as a tool to better one?s short-comings. In addition, ask them to make suggestions on how they would help to improve the department. Get them involve in some of the changes so they know that you care about their input and also so the burden will not solely be on you. I hope my comment and suggestion helps. Good luck!
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Denise Lewin-Cirilo on
5/19/2011 12:44:02 PM
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It sounds as though there hasn't been a "Team" of these staff members for a very long time, and to get past the animosities you will need to persuade them to come up with real ideas for a solution without coming across as a dictator, but just a coordinator. Such things as training each other in new technologies and reaching a worthwhile outcome as well as working through ways to convince them to like, or at least depend on each other first. Never easy when old habits have been allowed to fester. They are probably well aware of their reputation, but don't see a way to improve it. Could you find outside staff to come in a show them new ideas and practices along with some social activities to boost morale, and a lot of inter-personal conversation related to the standard you hope to achieve.
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Anonymous on
5/19/2011 11:35:17 AM
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A couple of suggestion based on my experience of managing 4-5 support staff.
1) make sure you have weekly staff meetings and that you emphasis being part of a TEAM
2) make sure you have one on one meetings with each of them so you can mentor, teach and develop each one, plus it also gives them a safe place to discuss their issues -I suggest weekly.
I know this will take some time out of what looks like your over extended schedule but I guarantee it will help you tremendously if they see your efforts and communication.
3) I highly recommend if you budget allow is to do at least a 1/2 day offsite or better yet a whole day to encompass team building as well, in which you have your TEAM take the MBTI, Meyer Briggs Type Indicator or something similar DISC, KOLBE, etc. - this will teach your TEAM about personalities and WHY people do what they do - and it will help you as the manager to manage them better.
Good Luck!!
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Kelly Fritsch on
5/19/2011 10:29:22 AM
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