I was asked to develop the next generation of thin film magnetic heads with a team of four physicists and electrical engineers in one year in order to keep ahead of the competition. The magnetic head design had to be very efficient and increase the areal density of magnetic recording at least an order of magnitude. I had a very bright and innovative group on my team. The team was given to me and I did not have any say in picking the team members.
We started the project on a very positive footing. After a week, one of the prominent members of the team started spreading neg- ative rumors about the company and he was not attending some of our team meetings. He came to work late and left work as he pleased. He had a Ph.D. in physics from MIT and he behaved like a disobedient child. His behavior affected my team’s morale and started to hamper the progress of my project.
I called him to my office and had a heart- to- heart discussion with him about his attitude. I told him that he was a very valuable member of my team and we depended on his magnetic design calculations and recommendations. He told me he was what he was and he did not like to work in a team environment. I asked him not to spread rumors against the company and discourage the team members and asked him to try to work with the team members as efficiently as he could. I told him I would not mind him using flexible hours at work. He agreed that he would try his best and left our meeting with good intentions.
Another week passed, but nothing had changed. His behavior got worse. He started to bring some of the other team members to his office and shut the door to have hours of discussions. I learned that these discussions were not about our project. They were dis- cussing the stock market, who was going to make a bid to buy our company, when our company’s president was going to be fired, when was a layoff going to happen, and so on. This physicist was a team breaker and not a team builder. I had to take more serious steps to bring him in line so that the project could progress smoothly.
I went to his supervisor and discussed this physicist’s behavior in confidence with him. His supervisor told me that this physicist was a recalcitrant person and he did not like to be under anyone’s authority, he looked down on everyone, and he thought his knowl- edge was superior to anyone around him. I told his supervisor that I needed this physicist’s contributions to my project. I told him that I was going to control this grown up and obstinate scientist very closely so that my team could successfully complete the project.
I had a team meeting without the recalcitrant physicist. I asked my team members not to interact with this physicist. I told them that I would be the only interface between him and the team. I went over the reasons for my actions. The rest of my team mem- bers understood the delicate situation with this physicist. After the team meeting, I called the disobedient physicist to my office and explained to him that team harmony was necessary to succeed in our project. I told him that we needed his invaluable input to the project. I asked him to interface only through me regarding the project and not with the team members. I also asked him to move his office next to mine, which luckily was not occupied at the time. I asked him not to attend the team meetings. I cautioned him not to have demoralizing discussions with my team members. I told him that my actions were not to punish him, but to make the project a successful one. He reluctantly agreed to my requests.
Then I went to the human resources department and explained to the head of the human resources department the difficulties I was having with this particular employee on my team. I outlined all the actions I was taking to remedy the issue. I also emphasized that I needed this physicist’s contributions for my project. She asked me to write a review letter about him and list all the actions I was taking to remedy the behavior of this physicist. I wrote a detailed review letter and discussed it with the recalcitrant physi- cist. I gave a copy to him. I also gave copies of my review letter to his supervisor and to the human resources department.
This obstinate physicist worked under my very close supervi- sion for the next six months and he contributed extensively to my project. He heavily cut his demoralizing activities during these six months. I made him work in a completely isolated environment. Unfortunately, at the end of six months, he was let go during a layoff because of his behavior. He predicted the company’s layoff timing right on the dot. He was a paragon of magnetism as a physicist, but he was not a team player at all.
LESSONS LEARNED FROM THIS PROJECT EVENT
• You have to take immediate action to deal with people who are disrupting your project team’s harmony and who are demoralizing your project team members.
• Some high- level scientists behave like a child in a team environment. These kinds of people need to be micro- managed with very close supervision.
Case 6.3: Error in Motor Mount Moment