Difficult Co-Workers and How to Deal!

I have yet to meet a fellow professional who doesn’t complain about a co-worker that gets under their skin. We all have them! The co-worker who never gets to work on time, the one who goofs off in the office, or the one who makes a mess in the kitchen and never cleans up…the list is endless. Being a rather new employee with the Chamber and having just graduated from college, I used to get easily worked up over certain situations and that would, ultimately, affect my own work and lead me to not being as productive.

After researching, I have realized that there are difficult people EVERYWHERE. There is no escaping them. And by difficult I mean lazy, irresponsible, loud, unproductive, mean and unmotivated. However, there is a silver lining and a few insights on how to deal with co-workers who make you want to pull your hair out. After reading several educated articles on the 10, 9, and 7 best ways to approach these situations, I have compiled a list of the 5 best actions I would choose to take.

1. Stay Calm. Becoming emotional or irrational will not lead to a faster resolution and could possibly lead to your boss thinking less of you rather than the co-worker your aggravated at. People who remain calm and reasonable are usually looked at with more respect. Don’t bring yourself down to your co-workers level and maintain your standards in the workplace.

2. Switch Perspectives. Everyone has a different story and different beliefs in how things should be done.  Sometimes finding the underlying reason as to why they are acting a certain way can lead to you finding a better resolution. Communication is what it all comes down to.

3. Understand Intentions. Not every difficult person you come in contact with is being difficult just for the sake of being difficult—doesn’t mean that they aren’t out there. Getting behind the reason for their mannerisms could definitely make it easier to tolerate their actions, or resolve them all together.

4. Focus on your own work. Not letting others affect your professionalism and work ethic is vital. Unless the person is threatening your personal safety or affecting your work, be the bigger person and ignore their less than pleasant ways.

5. Consult with Higher Authority. This should be a last resort approach. If all the communication and resolution efforts fail, reaching out to your boss is probably the best course of action. Keep in mind that the issue you are complaining about needs to directly affect your organization in a negative way and that something needs to be fixed.

By: Lauren Williams

Photo Credit: NBC Universal Media, LLC; http://www.nbc.com/the-office/about/#credits