Preparing Managers
to Deal with
Difficult People
Some Practical Strategies1,2,3
A Presentation for the 2005 OHA Annual Meeting
Kendall L. Stewart, MD, MBA
Betsey Clagg, RN, BSN
June 20, 2005
1Thank
you for attending this session.
intend to make practical points that you can put to use in your professional lives.
3Please let us know whether we succeeded on your evaluation form.
2We
Why is this topic important?
• Difficult people are everywhere.1
• Dealing with them is a challenge
for everyone, but these folk are
particular challenges for
organizational leaders.
• SOMC leaders believe this is the
most significant challenge they
face in their professional lives.
• Most of us don’t deal with
difficult people very well.
• We could do better, and we could
prepare our managers to do
better.
• This presentation will suggest a
number of practical strategies
that will help you prepare your
managers to deal more
effectively with these “Phantoms
of the Workplace”
1I
mastering
• After
the
information in this presentation,
you will be able to
– Describe how difficult people
sometimes behave,
– Explain how that behavior
“makes” your managers feel,
– Specify how those feelings
compel your managers to
react,
– List three practical educational
strategies that will assist
you in preparing your managers
to deal more effectively with
difficult people.
get the biggest kick out of dealing with snobs, particularly big-city snobs. Being from Portsmouth, I
get such opportunities all the time. An executive from Columbus liked my tie. A psychiatrist from
Cleveland was appalled that someone from Portsmouth would be appointed Chair of the OPA Ethics Group.
What are some successful strategies for preparing
managers for dealing with difficult people?
• Acknowledge the extent of the
problem.
• Ask managers how difficult
people behave.
• Ask managers how difficult
people “make” them feel.
• Ask them how unpleasant
feelings incline them to react.
• Encourage more realistic
expectations.
• Detail practical strategies for
dealing more effectively with
difficult people.1
• Design and deploy effective
educational activities.
1I
• Engage managers in the
learning process.
• Arrange for opportunities to
practice effective confrontation.
• Focus on changing the
manager’s behavior.
• Promote team learning across
departmental lines.
• Document educational
effectiveness.
was trying to teach one of my male patients to be more romantic. I know what women want.
I explained Hallmark™ cards to this man. You know what he did?
What percentage of the problems SOMC
leaders face are “people” problems?
20%
80%
People Problems
SOMC Leaders Focus Group, September 9, 2004
Other Problems
How do the difficult people at SOMC
behave?
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
They are negative.
They avoid conflict.
They are manipulative.
They are pot-stirrers. They are
selfish.
They won’t take responsibility for
their behavior.
They are arrogant.
They are disrespectful.
They fall back into old behaviors.
They are passive-aggressive.
They are demanding and impatient.
They deny their behavior.
They disregard policy.
They are unmotivated and lazy.
Rank ordered by SOMC Leaders Focus Group, September 9, 2004
How do difficult people at SOMC “make”
managers
feel?
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
SOMC Leaders Focus Group, September 9, 2004
Anxious
Confused
Defeated
Defensive
Desperate
Determined
Detached
Disengaged
Disappointed
Embroiled
Frustrated
Helpless
Impatient
Inadequate
Ineffective
Intimidated
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Mad or angry
Nervous
Overwhelmed
Powerless
Resentful
Scared
Sick
Stressed
Tired
Apathetic
Uncomfortable
Unmotivated
Withdrawn
How may these feelings compel managers to
react?
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Behave aggressively
Become arrogant
Counterattack
Seek out others who will
commiserate
Condescend
Become defensive
Become guarded
Grovel
Minimize the problem
Become moody
Become obsessive
SOMC Leaders Focus Group, September 9, 2004
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Placate the troublemakers
Protect the victims
Ruminate
Regress to defensive
inflexibility
Behave rudely
Scheme
Seek affirmation of their
perceptions
Indulge in tantrums
Ventilate destructively
Withdraw
What are some successful strategies for
dealing with difficult people?
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
1It
Label them.1
Neutralize them.
Describe them.
Predict them.2
Inform them.
Involve them.
Ignore them.
Convert them.
Avoid them.
Expose them.
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Circumvent them.
Use them.
Persuade them.
Confront them.
Rehabilitate them.
Discourage them.
Ridicule them.
Isolate them.
Punish them.
Extrude them.
is critical to tell people “how.” I suggested that leaders use the mental image of a yellow sticky note.
waste a lot of time hoping difficult people will change. People don’t change much. I recently took my
wife to Hawaii to celebrate our 30th anniversary. We got out “The List.”
2We
What approach did we use in designing
the educational activity?
• Leadership Development Team
• Strategic Value Leadership Conference
– Learn and share tools and techniques
– Promote team learning across department lines
•
•
•
•
Problem-oriented learning
Focus on changing behavior – (indicators)
Effective presenters
High energy level
What strategies did we use to
engage managers?
• Purposeful – useful strategies
• Brevity
• Humor
• Storytelling
• Informal setting
• Provide food
• Make it Fun
– Theme - “SOMC Productions”
What did we consider in designing our
role play exercise?
• Not a favorite method of learning
• Non-threatening, “safe” environment
• Reinforce classroom theory
• Realistic scenarios
• Clear expectations of outcomes
• Heterogeneous vs homogeneous groups
• Planned “debriefing” (processing)
How did we engage the participants in
the activity?
• Theme - Getting into “character”
• Triads: manager, employee, observer
roles
• “Scripts” for manager, employee
• Observer role
• Fully engage in activity – realistic
• “Back stage” areas
• Large group discussion
What was our approach to processing
the role play
experience?
• Completed a reaction form
–
–
–
–
–
What happened?
How did you feel?
Based on your feelings, what did you do?
What was the reaction?
What might have been done differently?
• “Interviewed” individuals
• Captured “best practices”
• Applauded their acting debut
How did we document the
effectiveness of the education?
• Completed an evaluation immediately following the
course
• Asked for a commitment to deal with a difficult person
within 60 days
• Reported on their experience and completed a followup evaluation in 60 days
• Measured the percentage of those who applied the
learning within 60 days
• We asked managers to estimate the percentage impact
this educational experience had on their actual
leadership performance.
What results did we see?
• Attendees’ mean assessment score was 4.73 compared
to previous mean evaluation scores of 4.5, 4.61, 4.54,
and 4.56 following similar SOMC leadership
workshops.1
• Written comments were overwhelmingly positive.1
• 71-percent of attendees applied their learning within
60 days.2
• Managers estimated their leadership performance had
changed by 32.5% due to this education.3
1Workship
evaluation
return rate for the 60-day follow up survey was 30-percent.
3American Society of Training and Development assessment tool
2The
Where can you learn more?
•
•
Stewart, Kendall L., et. al. A Portable
Mentor for Organizational Leaders,
SOMCPress, 2003 S
Stewart, Kendall L., “Physician Traps: Some
Practical Ways to Avoid Becoming a
Miserable Doctor” A SOMCPress White
•
Paper, SOMCPress, July 24, 2002
Stewart, Kendall L. et. al, “On Being
•
SOMCPress White Paper, SOMCPress,
January 2001
Stewart, Kendall L., “Bigwigs Behaving
•
Paper, SOMCPress, March 11, 2002
Stewart, Kendall L., “Relationships: Building
Successful at SOMC: Some Practical
Guidelines for New Physicians” A
Badly: Understanding and Coping with
Notable Misbehavior” A SOMCPress White
and Sustaining the Interpersonal
Foundations of Organizational Success” A
SOMCPress White Paper, SOMCPress,
March 11, 2002
Please visit www.KendallLStewartMD.com to download related White Papers and presentations.
How can we contact you?
Kendall L. Stewart, M.D.
Chief Medical Officer
Southern Ohio Medical Center
President & CEO
The SOMC Medical Care Foundation, Inc.
1805 27th Street
Portsmouth, Ohio 45662
740.356.8153
stewartk@somc.org
Webmaster@KendallLStewartMD.com
www.somc.org
www.KendallLStewartMD.com
How can we contact you?
Betsey Clagg, R.N., B.S.N.
Director, Staff Development
Southern Ohio Medical Center
1805 27th Street
Portsmouth, Ohio 45662
740.356.2412
claggb@somc.org
What questions remain?
www.somc.org
Southern Ohio Medical Center
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