This is a question post. I've moved into a team leader role a week ago, and neck deep already in the murky political world and the games that all the drama queens play.

One of my team members is working on a project, doing an excellent job Btw. His work, must be reviewed and approved by another department, in this case, one person. That person, has pretty much been acting like a bitch, not approving his work, which is creating significant bottlenecks. She has been communicating around my team member constantly, emailing and talking directly with my manager instead of directly with him, escalating minor things, requesting work which is beyond normal procrss, blaming our team for the delays, and just making it really painful for a lot of people. People, I have not seen this level of passive aggressive behaviour ever in my life!

She does have some influence and is well knit with other seniors in the organisation.

Now, I've only been in this role one week, have not dealt with this harpy yet, but would like some advise on the strategy to tame this woman, before I meet up with her next week.

All I want, is proper communication, for her to provide clear feedback on what she is after, and to get this project ticking along. Also, to stop making life hell for my team. We have no option but to deal with this women on every single project.

I'm thinking of playing the friendly card, where I really try to work with her and 'help' her do her job, but she's known to have lied, and even known to just have made stuff up in the past. The other option is just blunt communication, where I don't tolerate shitty behaviour. Would love to get your insights and advise on how to best approach this situation?