A case of bullying – or merely conflicting personalities?

Written by Denise Salin

On a Wednesday morning Laura is at the end of her tether. She storms into John’s
office, regardless of the fact that he is just preparing a presentation for a very
important meeting later that afternoon, saying:” I´ve really had enough this time. I’m
not going to take any more of this”. John, who is a Senior Manager at the insurance
company where Laura works, looks at her slightly surprised and confused, and
inquires what has happened. Laura explains to him that Hanna, a colleague of hers,
has once more refused to greet her in the morning, that everybody seems to ignore
her and that she is thoroughly tired of doing only work tasks that are clearly below
her level of competence.

John, somewhat annoyed by the interruption, tries to smooth over the whole thing
and asks Laura to calm down. He points out that the colleague, who forgot to say
hello, most likely was wrapped up in thought and that Laura probably should not take
that personally. As for the division of work within the individual teams, that is up to
the teams themselves to decide and he is unsure about why Laura has approached
him with that problem. Would it not be better to directly approach Sonia, the team
leader? He further reminds Laura that at all workplaces there are some less
interesting tasks that need to be taken care of and that is a natural part of most jobs.

Laura gets more and more upset and with an unsteady voice she explains that she
cannot take it any longer and that she is sincerely tired of being bullied by the other
team members. John, who has got more and more annoyed at Laura’s unexpected
outburst and her odd complaints, points out that he really needs to prepare for his
meeting and encourages her to come back “some other time”.

In the evening, when the meeting is over, John remembers his conversation with
Laura and her assertion that she is being bullied. He decides to go and talk to her the
next day and ask her to clarify why she feels that way. However, when John tries to
get hold of her the next day, he finds out that she has called in sick. Given how upset
and depressed she appeared the day before he is not really surprised, but decides to
talk to some other people in the organisation to get a clearer picture of what is going
on between her and the other members of her team and why she is acting so
strangely. So far he has found no faults with her work and when he hired her she
came with good qualifications and recommendations.

Below are some excerpts from the comments he gets in response to his questions.
First we get some comments from employees working in other teams, then we get a
comment from a member of Laura´s team.

Maria: “Laura doesn’t seem to get along with her team members. All the others in
the team seem to spend much time together, they often go for lunch together and
do social things after work, but for some reason Laura never takes part in those
activities. I guess she is not very social, but prefers to stick to herself. She is the
only one in her team with a Master’s degree, maybe she feels that she does not
have very much in common with the others”.
 Marco [has previously worked in Laura´s team]: “I would say that it is a case of
bad personal chemistry. She and Steven [another team member] simply do not get
along. I think they have very different opinions on how to solve work tasks. Steven
is rather dominant and has worked very long in the organisation. He does not
really appreciate people who want to introduce new ideas and who disagree with
him. I think most team members have sided with Steven and they are certainly
giving Laura a hard time at work. I guess Sonia, the team leader, also feels
slightly threatened by Laura’s career ambitions so she does not stand up for her.”

Christian: “I have several times heard her complaining about her work tasks,
saying that all interesting tasks have been taken away from her, but I think that is
really her own fault. After the restructuring individual teams were given more
autonomy to decide on how to share the tasks. Laura’s team had a meeting where
all had a chance to get their voice heard. But for some reason she did not show
up. Afterwards, she claimed that she did not know that the meeting had been
rescheduled to an earlier day. Funny, all others seemed to be aware of that. She
probably does not read her e-mails very carefully, which on the other hand is not
very surprising given the level of stress we are all experiencing.”

Susanna [team leader for another team]: “I think Laura is being bullied by her
team members. They really treat her quite bad and say nasty things about her
behind her back. Sonia, the team leader allows it to continue. I guess she does not
want to upset Steven, who is a very productive employee. Don’t misunderstand
me. Sonia is very competent and good at her job, but I think she is rather conflict
avoidant.”

Joanna [member of Laura’s team]: “Well, as you know she called in sick today.
Just between the two of us, I would say that she is rather oversensitive, and to be
honest, sometimes slightly annoying. I mean, she is constantly complaining. She is
never happy with the way things are and is always trying to change things that
have worked fine for several years. I wonder why she still wants to work here if
nothing is good enough for her.”

After hearing all the different stories John realises that Laura certainly does not seem
to get along with her colleagues. However, he does not really feel that it is serious
enough to be labelled bullying. He is rather unsure of what he ought to do and
whether he should do anything at all. What if that will only make things worse? And is
it really his responsibility to try to solve relationship conflicts among his staff?

Please note that this is a fictitious case. Please do not use this case without the author’s permission
(denise.salin@hanken.fi)