How to Stop Drama (In It's Tracks)

The podcast episode of this post is available on Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts and Spotify.

So, what is the one thing I recommend you do to stop drama if you were short of time?

DO THIS:

Bring together contributors to discuss negative impacts and agree on a solution.

BY DOING THIS:

• Call a meeting immediately to resolve behaviour issues

• Ask each person involved to share their perspective

• Co-create a solution that will eliminate bad behaviours

Working to an aggressive plan and timeline can cause tension, anger and animosity among team members that leads to drama among team members. If these emotions go unchecked, they will intensify and trigger combative behaviours – verbal attacks, not sharing information and not honouring commitments, etc. – that derail teams and their performance. It’s important to immediately annihilate bad behaviours because they quickly become new norms. You must get the involved parties into a room (physical or virtual) quickly to resolve the situation. Before the meeting, listen to each party’s perspective, so you know what you’re dealing with.

At the meeting, let everyone share their perspectives on the situation, including the impacts of the behaviours exhibited. Ask the group how they could have acted differently to avoid the issue and similar ones in the future. Monitoring post-meeting behaviours is necessary to ensure people honour their commitments. If they don’t, leaders must deal with at least one performance issue.

KNOWLEDGE BITES:

 

Resolution Plan Tool: How will I resolve a personal conflict affecting the project's success?

SUCCESS TIP:

Follow up by sending the list of agreements for the resolution to all parties. It’s a subtle reminder that you’re monitoring progress.