I’m responsible for a small IT team of 3 (including myself) and am having difficulty with one of the members of the team. I try to discuss as many aspects with the team as possible, but lately one individual is becoming increasingly competitive/argumentative with me about anything I feel we should discuss as a group. I welcome the feedback and genuinely want to hear different points of view, but ultimately it falls to me to make the decision. e.g. we had a discussion which in my view descended into an argument about the corporate standard for e-mail accounts – whereas I’d taken onboard some of his suggestions but not all he constantly believed all of his methods were correct and would not take onboard the view of others at all (the other 2 of us were in agreement). A couple of days ago the 3rd team member approached me and said he thought this individuals attitude was “pathetic” as he seemed to be arguing just to win an argument rather than discussing or offering a solution. Apparently after I’d left the office he’d spent an hour trying to prove a small point by searching through all of our stock for a telephone adapter (to try and prove I’d already bought one that I was intending to purchase).
This guy is very competitive and I’m also aware he has been given tasks to do from higher ups (my boss) in the company which he takes on and has then had another member of the team complete but he has claimed credit for (I have proof of this happening on 3 separate occasions now). This concerns me as the view from the board of directors is that this individual is doing an excellent job, and so more work is delegated directly to him which he then asks me/others about – as his boss I feel obligated to help him with them but can’t say I’m happy about providing solutions which he then takes credit for. I can’t see a way of telling higher ups/HR without coming off as unprofessional or a poor manager. I’ve discussed all of this with him privately on two separate occasions now but his attitude is “That’s the way I am. You’ll have to deal with it.”
Any thoughts? I’d like to see what you think, I really don’t know what to do for the best…