Countering Unproductive Behavior of Survival Group Members
There are many dangerous and potentially disturbing situations that could crop up during any survival groups related setting. Teamwork means exactly as it say where everyone works together for the benefit of the project. Unfortunately, that would be true only if we lived in a perfect world and we all realize that is certainly not the case, so we are prone to discover various pitfalls as we deal with others.
Countering Unproductive Behavior of Survival Group Members
By Joseph Parish
There are many dangerous and potentially disturbing situations that could crop up during any survival groups related setting. Teamwork means exactly as it say where everyone works together for the benefit of the project. Unfortunately, that would be true only if we lived in a perfect world and we all realize that is certainly not the case, so we are prone to discover various pitfalls as we deal with others.
Two counterproductive behaviors that are often exhibited by team members are as follows:
* Being a recognition seeker.
* Being disruptive and making inappropriate jokes or remarks.
I will briefly cover how I feel one should respond to the above disrupters.
Being a recognition seeker
An individual named David Hawley in Project Management for a software manufacturing company aptly defined the recognition seeker when he personified the personality as someone who likes to hear himself/herself talk. These types of people are typical boasters without the skills to back them up. When dealing with these personalities it is important first off not to offend them. Frequently, when a person boarders on the edge of one extreme they are attempting to compensate for the lack of traits on the opposite side. Since these techniques are nothing more then attention getting activities the person will go to any extreme to achieve his or her goals. Attention getters will go to any degree even if it involves lying to gain the interest and respect of their peers and superiors.
These are typically the people who a law enforcement officer would stop for a minor traffic offense and immediately they will start to rattle off a name list of high profile friends which they claim to know personally in the hopes of impressing the officer. Usually the common remedy for dealing with attention seekers is simply to ignore them however the proper response to this disturbed person is to understand what emotional and psychological drives are the motivating factor behind the behavior and then work accordingly to correct the situation. Once the motivating reasons are discovered proper guidance and direction can be imposed to make the person a responsible and contributing member of the team.
Attention seekers usually need more awareness than most other people. They always have to prove something either to another or to themselves. Their basic problem boils down to their lack of a sense of belonging. Our goal with these types of people is to eliminate their low esteem and put their confidence level back where it should be. Immature behavior can often be corrected by the simple process of intrinsic motivation. Try asking the person what they liked concerning their latest task and how they felt they did. Make slight comments on how they have improved something from the way it was previously accomplished. Provide the person with a responsible leadership role every now and them. Keep in mind our objective here is to build up a cooperative force member.
Being disruptive: making inappropriate jokes or remarks
Our second behavior is the disruptive individual who continually makes off color jokes or remarks. By popular consensus these types of personalities are frequently condemned as team members and opposed by all, however it would be in our best interests to convert these moral dilemmas into a productive and useful member of the team. These also are a breed of people who consistently seek out attention by their discouraging remarks.
I as much as the other person believe that when situations get really bad a minor joke could help loosen up the tension but there has to be a limit somewhere. I remember years ago when I was younger I participated in a boxing match and literally got my butt whipped. I could have gone to my corner and faded away with a whim while soaked up on feeling sorry for myself but I chose to make myself the main topic of a quick joke and get on with my life. The same can be accomplished with these types of personalities as well. Try taking the man or women aside and request their assistance in keeping the group focused on the task at hand. Have him work hard towards keeping people less distracted and more in line with the group’s purpose.
Copyright @2010 Joseph Parish
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Published in: Emergency Preparation
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