The coach’s corner -- August/September 2024

Julia Rowan answers your management, leadership and team development questions

A long-standing member of my team works to a good standard, but does the bare minimum. She is retiring soon. She takes no part in social outings and at team meetings, both in person and online, she works on her computer, only lifting her head to respond to direct questions. I have new people joining the team soon and I don’t want her muddying the water. I’m afraid if I tackle this, she will ‘go sick’. She has done this before. My team is under huge and growing pressure.

A. It is so easy to feel undermined by one person, so pay close attention to where your energy goes. It’s essential to prioritise creating a positive experience for your new joiners as well as the rest of the team. 

During interviews, induction and early reviews with your new team members, communicate this by organising a team lunch, bringing treats to meetings or refreshing the team meeting format. Also, take a look at the agenda: What is discussed? Who gets to talk, present, discuss or consult? 

If you decide to deal directly with the issue, remember her behaviour has evolved for a reason and, in her head, makes perfect sense. Whether it’s discomfort, disrespect, payback or self-protection, there is a message in her behaviour. It could be interesting to find out why she seems disinterested in engaging with the team. 

You need to be genuinely curious – this can be hard when you feel undermined and anxious.

It’s possible the team member may need help getting back into the group. Consider pairing her up with someone on a project, asking her to train a new team member, or finding ways to acknowledge her long service and experience.

If you decide to discuss this with her, start with the context (which you have outlined in your question): she is retiring soon, new people are starting and pressure is growing. 
For those reasons, you need everyone to be fully present to onboard new joiners, deal with important issues and prepare for the future. This means putting the work away for a while. 

You can be firm, gentle and respectful in this conversation.

She may give you a range of reasons for her behaviour – for example, she’s too busy, the meeting takes too long, it’s not interesting, it doesn’t concern her or she knows all this stuff already. 

Don’t argue with her. Agree and go back to your request: “I know you are busy but I need you there. So, how can we make it a more useful meeting?”  

Be sure to have an exit strategy ready to avoid going round in circles. 

The request you are making to this long-serving team member is reasonable. If you receive an outright refusal, the stakes get very high (and we are firmly in ‘going sick’ territory). 

Consider your options: Do you stick with the status quo? Insist she engages with the team? Ask her not to attend team meetings if she can’t pay attention?  

Telling her, “I’d rather have you there than not there, but I’d really appreciate it if you were fully present,” might be the safest option and keeps the door open.