Frank Nudge, a new employee in the reference department of Bastian College Library, is disrupting meetings and annoying his coworkers with his interruptions, know-it-all attitude, and refusal to consider other opinions. During a meeting to discuss revamping the department, Nudge takes over the discussion and ignores attempts by the department head, Lauretta Kiernan, to get the meeting back on track or make a decision. After the meeting, Nudge's coworkers Pam Bowden and Lucille Darcy complain about his behavior and consider complaining about him to the dean.

1. DO YOU MANAGE? By Michael Rogers
CASE STUDY
Mister Know-It-All
"THAT'S THE WORST THING I'VE the bridge of her nose. "That gave me terrupt Dr. Kiernan and everybody else
ever heard," trumpeted Frank Nudge, a headache." in that meeting? I lost count."
interrupting Pam Bowden. "This is "I'll bet he got beat up a lot in high "And he's been equally rude to all
what we should do," he continued. school," Lucille Darcy said. the higher-ups. He has no concept of
Nudge proceeded to point out the "Why did they have to stick him the hierarchy,"Bowden said."He's been
flaws in Bowden's thinking and pre- with us?" Bowden pondered. here for less than a year and he acts like
sented his own ideas on how to revamp "Because he's already been in two he runs the place."
the reference department of Bastian different departments, and they could- "I know we're not the only ones
College Library. n't stand him," Darcy answered. who feel this way. I saw Janet from up-
"That's how we have to do this." the "Dr. Kiernan seems to like him." stairs in the ladies room the other day
young man said, concluding his lengthy "I admit Frank does good work. I and she was practically in tears after
nionolog. just wish he didn't toist his opinions on getting into a disagreement with him,"
"Thank you," department head Lau- evcrythinii down our throats," Darcy remarked Darcy. "It was about some-
retta Kiernan said, "that's a very niter- said. "U you disagree with him. he's all thing completely stupid, too, like about
esting approach to..." over you. You're almost afraid to dis- a movie or something. No matter what,
"Let me know when you want to agree because he practically screams in he has to be right all the time. And be
start," Nudge said hefore Kiernan had your face. He's not just a know-it-all, won't let it go either. He keeps swing-
finished. he's a bully." ing away at you until you surrender."
After another hour of talk disrupted "He's well named, I'll say that," "I hate to rat someone out," said
numerous times by Nudge, Kiernan smirked Bowden. Bowden, "but maybe we should com-
threw in the towel. "That's enough for "Well, it's not just us; he does it with plain to the dean about him."
one day. We're all pretty much brain- everybody. How many times did he in- "Do you really think we should?"
dead by now, so let's pick it up again
another time."
"I thought we had a plan," Nudge ANALYSIS I
said. "Why don't we just proceed? I
mean why keep talking about it when
the solution is so obvious?"
"I'd like to sleep on it if you don't
Wake Up, Kiernan
mind," Kiernan said. By Rowan Salt, Team Leader, InfoServices, Griffith University, Australia
"I don't see why, but okay if you
want to keep running in circles," he It is a golden rule of management that tion staff morale or camaraderie.
said, blowing out an exasperated breath.
interpersonal conflict should be dealt By asking to "sleep on it," Kiernan is
The meeting broke up, and the staff with as soon as it arises.This is a lesson avoiding tbe real issue.This exacerbates
w^ent beck to their posts. managers often learn through experi- the problem: discouraging Bowden,
ence, and in this study Kiernan seems
"I'd like to strangle that little snot," frustrating Nudge, and sending a clear
growled Bowden through gritted teeth. to be about to learn it the hard w^ay. message to the rest of the team that she
"1 spent two weeks working out that Kiernan has tailed in a number ot ar- is either incapable or unwilling to deal
proposal, and I didn't get halfway eas, including allowing Nudge to in- with Nudge herself.
through it before that idiot took over.terrupt Bowden and take control of the Although Nudge's behavior is clearly
What IS witb him?" she said, massagnig agenda and by not making a decision unacceptable, it is possible that the se-
during the meeting. It is unacceptable riousness of the issue has never been
The incidents described in How Do for Kiernan to allow Nudge to domi- raised with him. Until Nudge is made
You Manage? are based on actual events nate tbe meeting. This wastes her aware of his behavior and the effect it
in libraries across the United States team's time and undermines her au- has on others, it is difficult to hold him
and Canada. Lj welcomes reports thority. Constant interruptions, lengthy alone accountable tor the disruption his
of such incidents for possible use in monologs. and an environment in behavior creates. By moving Nudge
this column. Send your accounts which staff are reluctant to express their between units rather than managing
to How DoYou Mandf^e?/UbraiyJournal. opinions for fear of being personally at- his performance, the management team
360 Park Avenue South, New York, NY tacked are obviously not conducive to may well be sending him e.xactly the
lOOlU or to mrogers@reedbu.siness.com effective decision-making, not to men- wrong signals. As Nudge appears unable
56 I LIBRAKY JOURNAL | OCTOBER 1,2004

2. to "read" his colleagues' discomfort quences. Nudge should he made will go a long way to resolving the
with his approach, he may be unaware aware that his behavior is unaccept- situation. At the very least it should
of the impact it is having upon others able and that, as department head, reduce its impact upon the team's
and interpreting his constant move- Kiernan is committed to dealing performance.
ment through the organization as tacit with it. Depending upon her assess- • Reassure her team. If the prior
approval or even encouragement. ment of the seriousness and urgency two actions are executed effectively,
There is another, less obvious issue of the situation, Kiernan may deal this third step may not be necessary.
here. The identification and encour- with it through mentoring and If there is not immediate improve-
agement of talent among younger staff coaching Nudge or taking steps to ment in Nudge's behavior. Kiernan
should be a priority for leaders at all manage him out of the organiza- may need to speak to her team
levels of the organization. Bowden tion. In either case. Nudge needs to members to assure them that she is
notes that Kiernan "seems to like" know exactly what is expected of in control of the situation.
Nudge, and even Darcy grudgingly ad- him and what will happen if he does
mits "he does good work." However, not meet these expectations. If her staff members are considering
unless his flaws are actively managed, Regain control. Kiernan should taking the issue to the dean, it is obvi-
this potential is unlikely to be realized. also assert her authority within team ous that they do not currently have
meetings by maintaining control of confidence in Kiernan's ability to deal
Kiernan has three immediate tasks: the agenda, providing space for the with Nudge herself. Although I hope
• Confront Nudge. Kiernan must entire team to contribute, and tak- Darcy and Bowden take their concerns
speak to Nudge honestly and direct- ing decisive action when it is to Kiernan before they complain to
ly about his approach and its conse- required. If handled correctly, this the dean, I fear it may be too late.
ANALYSIS II
Nudging Nudge
By William Walsh, Head. Acquisitions Department. Georgia State University Library, Atlanta
In between transferring Nudge from and library's work environment. ment take a personality preference test.
one horrified department to the next, Both Bowden and Darcy need to In addition, she and her staff should ex-
has anyone actually tried telling the make sure that Kiernan understands plore what staff development training
man how his actions make them feel? the deleterious effect they feel Nudge's opportunities are available and take ad-
Although Nudge obviously needs to behavior is having on the workplace. As vantage of them.
work on his interpersonal skills and has improbable as it seems, it is not clear Even Nudge's detractors grudgingly
much to learn about appropriate pro- that Kiernan understands the serious- admit he's a valuable employee. Re-
fessional conduct, he can hardly be ness of her problem from her few fee- solving this situation will take time and
faulted for his lack of clairvoyance. ble attempts at diplomacy during the effort but will be highly rewarding for
Why has the dean and library man- departmental meeting. Perhaps in the the entire library.
agement allowed any employee to be past Kiernan was lucky enough to have As for poor Janet, who was almost
moved among three departments in less a staff who worked well together with- reduced to sobbing in the ladies' room?
than a year? Why didn't Nudge's previ- out extensive direction. If so, this is no Obviously, no one should be made to
ous department heads address his defi- longer the case. feel like this-—especially in a work en-
ciencies rather than passing the prob- Kiernan should reiterate to her staff vironment. But she must understand
lem along for someone else to handle? their responsibility to let her know if that it's impossible for an employer to
Why doesn't Kiernan have better con- they have any issues, problems, or con- regulate someone's opinions.While no-
trol over her meetings? Why don't cerns. She should then meet one on body would dispute that Nudge's de-
Bowden and Darcy speak up for them- one with Nudge to lay out exactly livery needs work, he's entitled to feel
selves when they feel Nudge is behav- what is expected from members of the however he chooses about a particular
ing like an ass? department in terms of workplace be- movie. If Nudge bothers her as much as
It's ironic that Bowden faults havior. Nudge needs to understand that he seems to, it would be best for Janet
Nudge for having no concept of the successful organizations succeed and everyone involved if she kept her
library's hierarchy and then suggests through collaborative effort and that interactions with him strictly profes-
that she and Darcy circumvent their solutions need to work for everyone sional. It's her choice if she wants to
supervisor by taking their complaints involved, not just for him. While ideas discuss movies, music, television, etc..
directly to the dean. Instead of tattling are valued, constant interruptions are with her coworkers. Like everyone else
on Nudge, Bowden and Darcy should simply rude. To help everyone better at Bastian College Library, she. too,
seize this opportunity to work with understand each other. Kiernan should needs to accept responsibility for her
Kiernan to improve the department's suggest that everyone in the depart- actions.
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