Insomnia

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Taming Hell Boy;
Issues Not Personalities;
ABC's of Customer Service

By Georgene Waterman

QI have been working with the employee from hell for two years. No matter what I do, including turning the other cheek, nothing helps. We must work in teams to solve problems. This guy cuts people off when they are trying to talk and thinks only his ideas have any merit. We have gone to our boss but he tells us we need this guy's expertise and we will have to learn to work with him. What can we do?

AInterrupting others smothers the free exchange of ideas that problem-solving teams need to be successful. "Cutoff culprits" are telling the team that what they have to say is more important than what the person talking has to say, and they don't want to listen to that person. Your team could profit by reading Susan Scott's book, "Fierce Conversations." She writes about business communication, how we need to learn to listen better to each other and to talk straight, something that we usually don't do in a business setting for fear of repercussions.
    These culprits first need to be told what they are doing. Oftentimes they are unaware of how their behavior affects the team. If someone is facilitating your meetings, the facilitator needs to tell any nonlisteners that they need to hear everyone's point of view. If you don't have a facilitator, you should appoint one to rein in any cutoff culprits.
Continued...

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