unprofessional team

[Anonymous]

I'm a new federal supervisor. My team is mainly GS-12s, with a few 13s. I have been with them for a month and they routinely don't show up to scheduled meetings. Another office scheduled a meeting during lunch time and even though this is not a recurring meeting, every person on the team refused to come to the meeting. People blast music in an open cubicle environment. There is a lot of socializing and chit chatting. One employee was on medical leave and came to a team party. People are on telework schedules that do not make sense to me. Routinely, they call in unscheduled leave. People teleworking do not respond by phone or voice mail. I have been working here for a month and am at a loss. I have started addressing this behavior and people act like I am the unbelievable one. How has this office functioned like this for so long and how do I reign in this behavior and set expectations that we do our work and behave as the professionals we are on paper?

[Anonymous]

Call a meeting. Attendance mandatory (barring a note from a doctor documenting a real illness).

Revoke telework arrangements. They're all BS anyway. I telework but am on DCUM most of the day.

[Anonymous]

Is the work they are paid to do getting done? I work in a task oriented position in accounting that doesn't really require all of my time to complete. I'm basically allowed to do what I want as long as my work is done. If this is the case for employees in your department, they could be getting their work done even though you don't like how they structure their weeks. Also, was the lunchtime meeting actually important? Was it presented as mandatory?

At any rate, the only way you can change the culture is to establish expectations and correct and document when employees don't meet them. However, they will all hate you and will attempt to undermine you at every turn as a result, so make sure your changes are due to work needs and not just your personal preferences.

[Anonymous]

Hi fellow Fed supervisor,

Sigh, I feel you. So you need to figure out what the policies are, how much they are being enforced in your agency's department and the willingness to back you. If you go out on your own without your own manager (and the team of fellow managers) behind you, you will be left out high and dry and the team will outlast you. Is there a new manager training that you can take? What kind of support could you get from HR?

In the meantime, try to pin down responsibilities and performance elements in everyone's performance agreements. Make it specific so people know what to work on. Then meet with people every so often to check in on their projects or whatever their assignments are.

Make a list of people's schedules and post it/send it to everyone. Require everyone to send you an email on their telework day with their phone number and what they are planning to accomplish. You could make an electronic calendar for your group and people could put their vacation days on it. They absolutely must be available as if they were in the office.

Since federal agencies are being watched so closely, someone could report your team to the IG. You are responsible as their manager. If you sign off on their hours you must have documentation to back it all up. If you suspect cheating on time, fraudulent activities, etc. you have to take action or it will be on you. There are fed managers in jail right now for time card fraud.

Sorry, all of this really sucks. Fed management is not for the faint at heart.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hi fellow Fed supervisor,

Sigh, I feel you. So you need to figure out what the policies are, how much they are being enforced in your agency's department and the willingness to back you. If you go out on your own without your own manager (and the team of fellow managers) behind you, you will be left out high and dry and the team will outlast you. Is there a new manager training that you can take? What kind of support could you get from HR?

In the meantime, try to pin down responsibilities and performance elements in everyone's performance agreements. Make it specific so people know what to work on. Then meet with people every so often to check in on their projects or whatever their assignments are.

Make a list of people's schedules and post it/send it to everyone. Require everyone to send you an email on their telework day with their phone number and what they are planning to accomplish. You could make an electronic calendar for your group and people could put their vacation days on it. They absolutely must be available as if they were in the office.

Since federal agencies are being watched so closely, someone could report your team to the IG. You are responsible as their manager. If you sign off on their hours you must have documentation to back it all up. If you suspect cheating on time, fraudulent activities, etc. you have to take action or it will be on you. There are fed managers in jail right now for time card fraud.

Sorry, all of this really sucks. Fed management is not for the faint at heart.

The message to a new team should be - "I want you to learn how to trust me ... but first I need to learn how to trust you." In other words, trust is a 2-way street. Federal workers are often maligned as being lazy, overpaid for what they do, etc... which may be true for some, as it is in any large organization. But you can turn around the most recalcitrant and dysfunctional team by learning how to trust each other. If there's no trust, your team will simply mark time until you get fed up or fired/transferred. Couch every request for people's schedules, workloads, production, etc... in the context of building trust. Tell them that you'll do the same - you aren't asking them to do anything you won't do. Tell them what you're working on, how you got it done, the frustrations you're encountering, etc... Let them know you're struggling with comparable problems and that you need their help - and that they can rely on your help to get their jobs done. Tell your team that if they're unwilling to meet you halfway - and be a member of a team - then you'll gladly accept a request for a transfer to another department, agency, etc... You don't want anyone who doesn't want to be there.

Also, find out what motivates each team member. Is it money? Is it responsibility? Is it managerial experience? Is it travel? Realign the team along those lines and they'll be more productive.

[Anonymous]

it's a power struggle. your team is trying to tell you who is REALLY in charge. you are trying to prove you are the boss. it won't be easy. you need to be clear on how much you will tolerate and be clear on that. you won't make any friends with this one.

[Anonymous]

How did you end up getting hired? Were you an external candidate or were these your coworkers before you managed them? What are their required deliverables? Do their performance plans need to be changed? Are you a technical expert in the area these people are supposed to work in? While I agree there are problem Federal employees, there are so many lousy Federal managers it's beyond belief. You should be able to figure out whether they're getting their jobs done because you should be trained in all their jobs.

[Anonymous]

I am an internal hire but came from a different office in the same agency. I have worked in the government 12 years and I have never found the stereotype about government workers to be true.

I had three rounds of panel interviews. I have technical expertise in the field and federal government in both policy and operations.

I gave the team a month where I met with each of them, observed, asked for feedback and suggestions on how to improve processes.

I gave an assignment to see each team member's work style. I met with each person about the status of the assignment and their progress. I have also had several trainings on topics the team asked for continuing education or a refresher.

What I have found is that there are half of the team who are doing the majority of the work. We use a database to track and monitor all our work and it is easy to see who is doing their work and who isn't. I receive a weekly report of all actions and can see those actions over 30 days in the queue. I also can see the notes that staff enter and receive email notifications.

I do not have time to micromange. My plate is full and I feel like I am going to scream with all this hand holding. I seriously came on this forum as I thought I was going to cry. I asked someone to write a memo. She said she never had written one. I gave her training. We met and worked on it together. I referred her to a colleague with experience.

I get a lot of pushback about assignments. Oh I have never done this and I am not going to learn, etc.

When I call people working from home, they do not respond. When I email them, they do not respond. I will wait hours. I will follow up. Crickets.

People take last minute leave like others change underwear.

In the office, I am not sure what people are doing. One woman is running a side business. Another man is on the Wash Post all day listening to loud music. Three people sit in one person's office and chat. I have received feedback from other managers of their unprofessional behavior.

I send a meeting request. No response. I send an email. No response. I go to someone's cube. They are not there. I go again an hour later. Still not there. No one can be accounted for.

I had the expectation that the folks on my team had a level of professionalism and subject matter expertise. Not only am I finding people completely defrauding the government--we are talking people who are saying they are teleworking but not doing any work-- but I am also finding there are people that have not completed one task for an entire month! So maybe they are at work but chit chatting with their office mate or friends.

Our job is very time sensitive. Letting stuff sit has fiscal and administrative consequences. I am at a loss as to what to do. I have given feedback tot he high performers and have a good rapport with them.

What I am finding as a new manager is that there are a lot of mental health issues and issues related to personal health and care of children and family members. I am flexible, but you are not getting paid to stay at home with Grandma and watch Bravo all day on the taxpayer's dime.

The meeting people did not show up to was a major review. People don't accept meeting requests. They come and go as they please. They tell me that it is a "laid back" environment. Our job is anything but laid back. It is a regulatory, fiscal position.

We don't have a lot of meetings. You can do your job remotely. But people are abusing the privilege. Before, they had a super nice but super lax manager.

[Anonymous]

I came from a super disorganized fed job like that. New boss came in and made everything worse.

The #1 thing we all wanted new boss to do was to interview every one of us and ask what we do and what we see as the problem. New boss acted like they didn't care what we did, nor cared about our input. Needless to say the already bad situation got worse and the office imploded.

[Anonymous]

OP I read your second post and I think you should discuss this with your manager and with HR. I'm loathe to say it, but I think a "desk audit" is in order. If these people don't have the skills to do their jobs, they get their grades lowered. I've seen it happen.

I was in a bad office once like this. We all were waiting on the new boss to step up and police the 1-3 super bad employees, but they never did. Really hurt morale.

[Anonymous]

OP, how can I get a job like that? I promise to do one or two tasks a month.

[Anonymous]

Sorry, but I don't take back any of the terrible things I've said about government employees. And to think, most of these blobs are going to collect a pension. One bad apple doesn't really ruin the bunch but sure seems like there are a bunch of bad apples ruining the credibility of most Feds.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sorry, but I don't take back any of the terrible things I've said about government employees. And to think, most of these blobs are going to collect a pension. One bad apple doesn't really ruin the bunch but sure seems like there are a bunch of bad apples ruining the credibility of most Feds.

Don't worry, there are plenty of dumbasses and do-nothings in the private sector. You can be as Tea Party as you want about this, but had employees are everywhere.

[Anonymous]

Your note seems similar to this one: http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/478758.page

I'm the 19:15 poster in the conversation noted in the above link. Same advice applies to you here. People get away with bad behavior because supervisors are too scared to hold them accountable. Discipline and/or fire a few, and you'll start to see a shift in culture. And employees that are teleworking don't respond? Revoke their telework immediately. You have that right as a supervisor, don't be afraid to use it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, how can I get a job like that? I promise to do one or two tasks a month.

+1

Shit, I'll do 5 tasks a month.