Previously Asked Questions:

Please read through these, you may find the answer you were looking for.

Hostile Work Environments

Team Building Exercises

Miscellaneous

Hostile Work Environments

#1 Question:

"I would like to know if I am in a hostile work environment situation.

These are the problems:
Important information withheld from me by another dep. to do my job correctly.
Watched by the same dep. supervisor and reported on about length of breaks, flex time, parking, conversations with coworkers, this supervisor watches me and walks past my work station over 100 times a day and stares at me. I have spoken with her supervisor about it, but to no avail. I feel as if I am under a microscope. I am very uncomfortable in this situation. She seems to want to report any little mistake or problem about me and get me in trouble. I have not done anything to her, I just want her to stop or move to an office at the other end of the room and do my job. My supervisor has no problems with my work or any other issue.

Thanks"

Response:

This is NOT legal advice. The only persons who actually decide whether an environment is hostile is a judge, and each judge's own subjective opinion. If you highly suspect that you may be in part of an HWE, you first have to notify your local EEOC representative and discuss the situation. If, after speaking, they decide there may be cause, they will initiate an investigation of your company.

Here is one important point. You MUST confront management with the issue and give them a chance to address the issue. This supervisor needs to have a chance to correct her behavior.

Now, all that aside, here is my opinion about your situation. You have a micro-manager The situation is extremely unpleasant, but it does not sound like it is hostile. I do not want to belittle your experience by not answering in length, but I actually have a short article, Deadly Dynamics, for you to read. It was written by a colleague and may cover what is happening to you.

The reason I don't see an HWE is that there doesn't seem to be any type of
discrimination or loss of opportunity created by your supervisor. This is usually a prerequisite for a HWE. It may constitute as a type of harassment. Most harassment suits brought on are sexual, but there are many other types now being investigated.

What can you do?

1. Read this article, Deadly Dynamics, and take any action you deem appropriate.
2. Approach the supervisor and try to understand better why the
   micro-managing is happening. Confront, if necessary, and try to come up with
   solutions. I would suggest you have all your points in writing so you don't
   forget them. Set a time frame for a change.
3. If no change, speak again to your supervisor's boss (or have them in
   the original meeting, but I am against that at this point). Give this
   person a chance to try and effect change with you supervisor.
4. Contact your HR department. You may find them very responsive since
   UW recently lost a $430,000 suit against them by the EEOC for age
   discrimination.
5. Contact EEOC. You may want to do this earlier in the process as
   they can give you some direction about documentation, etc.

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#2 Question

"Our CEO & President is not from the US and his speech is quite offensive and vulgar. He always uses the F word as well as g.d. and peppers his conversations and speeches with vulgarities and talk of bodily functions. If employees are complaining about this and how it offends them, is this fertile grounds for future hostile work environment claims?"

Response:

The response to this question is opinion and cannot be claimed as legal advice. We are not lawyers. All legal questions should be directed to an attorney or the EEOC.

To answer the questions succinctly is no, it is not grounds for future hostile work environment claims. Foul language is bad manners and very unprofessional, but cannot be grounds for a lawsuit because it does not violate any laws directly. However, if it crosses the line into Title VII territory (sexual harassment), then there can be serious problems for this CEO. This is true for any racial comments as well.

Since you do not give examples of what he is saying, I am assuming it is simply normal vulgar material. There is a possibility that this CEO is being vulgar because he wants to fit into US culture, which is known as extremely vulgar around the world. Regardless, his behavior is inappropriate and someone needs to bring it to his attention. One thing you can do is have your employees, or coworkers, take our organizational culture assessment on our website. It is anonymous and can have a great impact upon senior management. You can start the process here: http://www.employeedevelopmentsolutions.com/cultureassess.htm

There is some considerable amount of work being done to change this type of behavior into ground for hostile work environment by a group that just moved to Washington called The Campaign Against Workplace Bullying. There website can be found at www.bullybusters.org. There are MANY articles and a wealth of information on the site.

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Team Building Exercises:

#1 Question

"We are planning our management retreat for this year and I am looking for something fun to do as a team building exercise.

Can you give me some ideas or direct me to a site that may give me ideas. Our retreat is taking place on a lake, in two cabins (one for the girls, one for the boys)

I have been asked to come up with an hour of team building exercise that is also fun. Thanks for any guidance you can give me."

Response:

To be honest, I think you can find a lot more information just by going to Amazon, your local bookstore or my favorite, the library. I wouldn't know where to begin to give you suggestions... there are hundreds of team building exercises out there... all depending on certain needs. This isn't to send you off to another website, but it's important that you narrow down what it is you're looking for. From what you've told me, it could be anything.

As you decide on an exercise, here are some things to think about:

• Does anyone on the team have any physical disabilities that may limit the exercise?
• What is the goal of the exercise? Building trust, resolving conflict, problem solving, etc. There is not one single team building exercise in the world that does not have a purpose.
• How will the exercise fit within your group's culture? There is a culture within EVERY group, if maybe just not identified.

Here is a page from our website that goes into a little more detail.

Teambuilding

I personally like to do physical challenges when possible, which is sometimes classified as low ropes. Again, there are many different books out there that will have what you are looking for, but I like Karl Rohnke. He has quite a few books out like Quicksilver, Cowtails and Cobras (and C & C II).

The problem is that you should practice as you need to perform. If your group is normally in an office setting, 'playing together' outside is only as good as the facilitation that follows it to transfer the skills learned to the workplace.

Following a fun outdoors exercise, you should have some teambuilding that more closely resembles your workplace. See if they utilize the skills they just learned.

Going to the library and reading the appropriate pages for ideas is your best bet. These types of books are rather expensive.

A couple of tips for you as the facilitator of the exercises:

• Have several exercises prepared for your one hour. There may be a problem with one of them and you may need to switch.
• Don't have them all be physical challenges -- in case someone gets hurt during the retreat but before your team building.
• Give PRECISE directions and then let them go. You may want to jump in and help them, but try not to. The group may get off course, but you may be surprised what they come up with.
• The true facilitation comes AFTER the exercise in the debriefing. This is where the problems encountered are discussed and the solutions are related to your lives (and work).
• If you decide to do more of a game than an exercise, stop the game while everyone is having a great time. Do not wait until people are tired of the game. This will keep people energized.
• Beef up and get a book from the library about facilitation also. What you are attempting to do is actually very tough for a first-timer. You are responsible for the group having fun, but also learning something useful in the process.

By the way, I HIGHLY encourage you to have everyone take a journal and write in it as much as possible throughout the weekend. This will be a very important tool to help process the weekend and provide for long-term benefit from the weekend.

Also, I am not sure what the retreat is for, and what the goals of the retreat are, but you should give some serious consideration to have a professional facilitator run the weekend. They are relatively inexpensive and will be able to accomplish things no one in your organization can do, if only because they are not part of the same system you are. Also, these people are extensively trained to run these events. If nothing else, you may want to pay for a facilitator to help design the weekend, if not run it. These professionals are worth their weight in gold.

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#2 Question:

"Am taking a session in about 10 hrs, need to do something fun with a group of about 15. Area Manager will be there, something fun but with a team building theme would be excellent. Your help would be greatly appreciated!!"

Response:

Unfortunately, we do not have the time to respond to these types of emails because we receive HUNDREDS of them every month. However, there are many books you can buy at the bookstore or even get at the library that will be able to outline any type of exercise you are looking for.

However, there are several questions you should answer for yourself before you decide on an exercise:

1. Why is the group getting together?
2. What is the purpose of the 'fun' teambuilding exercise? Icebreaker, get-to-know-you, communication, problem solving, etc...
3. What are the demographics of the group? Ages, gender, physical conditions, etc.
4. How long do you want the exercise to be?

Please remember, the exercise MUST have a purpose that will help in your overall meeting. If it is not part of an overall plan, you are wasting everyone's time. Also, select another exercise as a backup. Use this in case you have a physical exercise that will be very fun, but Jane shows up with a broken ankle from last night, for example. Or you may begin with the first exercise and realize it was the wrong one. Stop it as soon as possible and move on to your backup. Also, always stop the exercise while everyone is having fun so they will want more later, it that applies.

If you would like to speak to one of our professional facilitators in this area, we would be more than happy to accommodate you. The fee is $250.00 per hour, minimum of one hour.

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Miscellaneous

#1 Question

What is the home town of John C. Calhoun?

Answer:

Unfortunately, I am not an expert in history, although I do read quite a bit of it as a hobby. However, John C. Calhoun was born in Abbeville district, SC, on March 18, 1782.

Thank you for the humor. One in return, "What is the elevation of Jerusalem?"

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