A classic Saturday Night Live skit shows Will Farrell walking into a business meeting dressed only in an American flag thong and a half t-shirt. The team sitting around the table is clearly uncomfortable. Laughter ensues. There may be a person on your team that for one reason or another makes you and/or others on your team cringe. There is an obnoxious team member on most teams. It isn't a laughing matter.

At stake is team morale, productivity, and the relational glue that holds teams together. Rarely, however does anyone have the courage to deal constructively with the person. It may be uncomfortable conversation, but it is necessary.

Here are four steps to deal with an obnoxious team members.

1. Do a gut check - What do you feel when this person is around? Some feelings that may be aroused are: discomfort, frustration, aggressive, agitated, uptight, tense, and nervous, just to name a few. Name what you are feeling and make a note of it.

2. Care enough to confront - Team members might say, "Oh well, that's just John…" and sigh in resignation, but are silently are waiting for someone to say something to John. Care enough for your team to do something to begin eliminating the offending behavior that is causing others to cringe. And by confronting the offender, you show care and concern for him or her too. He or she may have no idea that their behavior is causing such discomfort in the group.

3. Determine what you want - You know what you don't want from the person. What do you want? How would you like the person to behave? Again, name it and make a note of it. This will give the offender a positive thing to work on in relationship with others on the team. You may be doing him or her a favor.

4. Speak for yourself - In order to frame what you want to say use his formula, "In situation (x) when you do (y), I feel (z)." Since learning it from psychologists Les and Leslie Parrott, I've used that exact phrase in a number of situations and have found it very helpful to peacefully begin a potentially tense conversation. It diffuses defensiveness and allows the other person to hear the discomfort he or she is causing on the team.

Bottom line - Leave the cringe factor for television producers to entice viewers, and eliminate it on your team. Your team mates will thank you for it.

Source: http://www.callcentercafe.com/2008/12/02/eliminating-the-cringe-factor-how-to-deal-with-obnoxious-team-members/