Team is nightmare: what can we do?

[Charlottedickens]

I've been having huge difficulties with two colleagus who have made me start to dread going into a job I love and I'm not sure how to deal with it.

I work on a team with 11 people: our overall divisional head, 4 mini-'teams' of two (a manager and an associate) and then two people who act as technical advisors to two teams each. The two technical advisors and the 4 managers are line managed by the head of division, I have a lot of time for him.

I am one of the technical advisors, and one of the teams I work with is making the office atmosphere horrific. The manager is aggressive, and frequently unprofessional: her and the associate on the team frequently slag off others on the division, as well as other people in the organisation we all work with closely. They are cliquey and exclusionary, when we have divisional meetings they shout others down and create an unpleasant atmosphere.

A lot of my issues stem from the difficulty of offering the support my role is meant to offer them when in realty they don't consult me on decisions and frequently make work decisions over gossipy lunches I'm not invited to. (I have no interest in attending the lunches, but wish they'd limit the work chat to when I can take part as they are meant to) I have spoken to my line manager about this, who has been supportive and helped guide the situation so I can play a stronger role. However, he is frequently in meetings all day and doesn't realise how awful the general atmosphere is.

Two things happened recently that have drawn this to a head: 1. I spent time off-site with them in a clients office and these two colleagues spent the whole tome bitching about our team, and people in the wider organisation, constantly. Including at times in front of the client, which I was shocked by.

The other is that I was off-site with one of the other teams, and when getting the train back together afterwards one broke down and spoke about how miserable she was with the atmosphere, how she feels excluded and belittled constantly, and that she has spoken to others outside our division and apparently we have a reputation for being difficult to work with, largely stemming from the behaviour of these individuals. Because a lot of it could be seen as 'banter' and even i idnt realise everyone else was as unhappy about this as i am I think we're all getting tarred with the same brush.

Some of the behaviour would count as bullying, particularly in relation to another manager who they have given a nickname to, but tere are no specific instances I could name. And their behaviour to me doesnt fall under that category. I really don't know what todo: I could raise it with my manager, our divisional head, but I don't know what to say: it all seems quite non-specific. I'm not sure if there's a HR mechanism that would achieve anything; they won't be fired and it might make them worse. I know now two other associates raised how unhappy they were with the managers who line manage them, but I don't think they've kicked that up to the divisional team.

It is essentially about terrible team dynamics and unprofessional behaviour: but that's not something you can raise a grievance over, even if it is making life hell.

Wise mumsnetters: do I need to look for another job? Is there anything I can do?

You don't have to raise a grievance. But I think you should raise it, and basically say what you've said in this post. I would start with your line-manager, as you already have support there, but you could ask your manager how best to raise it with the head of division, as clearly it's something the head needs to be aware of.

Oh, and when I've raised stuff like this in the past, I've made sure I'm very clued up on the Code of Conduct and any policies on respectful workplace and so on. You need to be sure your behaviour follows those guidelines as well as pointing out where their's doesn't.

If you can suggest any possible solutions, that will also usually be well-received. I'd probably suggest things like some sort of training/awareness sessions on respect and harassment, also team-building maybe. Is there anything you can do to improve relationships between teams? We have short informal sessions with other teams every couple of months or so, just to raise any issues, and talk to each other without having to have a reason to talk, if you see what I mean - it just helps things run a bit more smoothly, because we've a better idea of each other as people, rather than just job roles. Anyway, IME, managers like it if you can come with possible solutions, and not just complaints.