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I am a team leader in an office with eight female and one male staff member. I did not grow up in this team, but I was hired from outside as a team leader. My predecessor was so careless that over time his colleagues took a lot of liberties: Visits to the doctor and coffee during working hours, or shifting his own working hours to suit his personal needs, leaving out uncomfortable work, to name just a few examples. From the beginning, I was observed with skepticism. Later, a colleague confided in me that the employees were afraid that I would reduce the "freedoms" acquired in the daily work. This is, of course, what happened.
While in the beginning my colleagues were still polite and sometimes friendly to me, this changed as more efficient structures were established in the office. In the meantime, there were, for example, the following incidents: If there was a problem, it was immediately referred to the works council without giving me the opportunity to find a solution. During a team-building measure with a coach commissioned for this purpose, the colleagues said that they did not need team leadership, but that they would be just as effective if they did the work themselves. When someone arranged lunch during the break, I was not asked if I wanted anything too. At team meetings, people sometimes show bad moods for no apparent reason. For my birthday, I received a sad, not to say withered, plant, while the other gifts are around 30 euros.
How do you see this? Is this a normal "rebellion" of colleagues who suddenly have to work more productively? Or is it already moral harassment?