FAHA: Who is your Jeff?

[Bharat Nain]

Working together in a team requires many skills, one of which includes dealing with conflicts.
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To begin, let me say there is no Jeff. He is a fictional character based off of a certain member of our team, and to save privacy, we shall call him Jeff.

Jeff is a leading member of our design/build team. Like everyone else, he has good and bad ideas, but that is as good as it gets. Jeff has the mentality that he is always right. It is his way or the highway. For example, one of our members, let's call her Stacy, worked with an ex-team member on a new design for the crate in which the robot will be shipped. This idea, to say the least, was pretty amazing. However, as soon as Stacy presented the design, Jeff shot it down immediately. Jeff wasn't even leading the design team for the crate. When Stacy asked the ex-team member for help explaining the design, Jeff suddenly hated the design. Why? Jeff hates this ex-member. Overcome by frustration, Stacy left crying. After a good while comforting her, I left because I knew there was no point in me staying is Jeff is just going to make things his way.

So, to simplify all of this, Jeff is a complete jerk who always believes he is right.

Now, I have three questions for you.

1) Does your team have a Jeff?

2) If so, how is he? What is his story? (Of course this is not restricted to guys; Jeff may be a girl)

3) How would you deal with the Jeff problem?


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