Shelia Williams (a new department manager) received an email from Wallace, a young accounts receivable clerk, complaining that a coworker, Horace (a long-time employee) was not getting information to him in time to meet his deadlines.

In part, the email to Shelia Williams read, "As you may be aware, Horace Hinton is causing problems for our team. He pays little attention to his deadlines, but he is taking over some tasks with a high profile account that I should be responsible for. When I mention anything to him, he gets mad. Horace is always talking negatively about other team members but he is not doing his work. Please do not mention my email to Horace and do not ask me to meet with him again. I’m still pretty new here and he has a lot of friends in our corporate offices."

Shelia was recruited from another company to manage the department about six months ago, and she is aware that Horace has been in the department for a long time and has consistently received good performance reviews. Prior to Shelia’s arrival, Wallace was highly recruited and is considered to a future star. Wallace has been in the department a little over a year, and Shelia understands that he has great potential but can be impatient and aggressive.

To deal with this issue, Shelia is considering the following actions:

A. Shelia’s experience in other companies leads her to believe that these rather petty squabbles may be pretty normal and usually do not amount to much. To avoid potential embarrassment for Wallace or Horace, Shelia thinks it may be better to just acknowledge to Wallace that she received his email and will remain alert to the situation.

B. Another option is for Shelia to meet with Horace and Wallace individually. Shelia can explain to Horace that she has observed that he tends to be pretty pushy with other employees and that he should just do his job and not worry about others. She can remind him of his duties and request that he comply with all of his responsibilities.

In the meeting with Wallace, Shelia can forcefully communicate that she does not like for one of her team members to criticize other members behind their backs. If Wallace continues to have issues with Horace, he needs to work that out with Horace.

C. Shelia could call a meeting of the department and discuss the importance of teamwork. Without mentioning names, Shelia can passionately present her interpretation of what it means to be a good team member and how important teamwork is to the mission. Shelia can end the meeting on a positive note by telling all that she has great confidence in their abilities and expressing appreciation for their contributions.

D. Or, Shelia can insist that Wallace meet with Horace. Shelia can join the meeting and begin by asking each party to list what they like and dislike about working with each other. Shelia can follow up by clarifying her expectations for each person.