Dealing with difficult coworkers is not that difficult, if you approach the situation tactfully. With this article, get tips on how to deal with difficult coworkers.

Dealing With Difficult Coworkers

Life is all about confronting difficulties and trying to emerge as a winner. Meeting difficult people is unavoidable, as they are present in every walk of life. They come in every variety, every shape and size. If someone deliberately attacks you or tries to malign your image, it becomes a cause of worry and bother. In such a state, you should never lose your calm and stay grounded. Remember that you cannot change the person, so work on changing the situation. Dealing with difficult people can be taxing, but is not totally impossible. But we also do understand that people difficult to deal with at work can really make your life hell. Your workplace is somewhere you spend most part of your day and how you feel about it makes a lot of difference to your life. If your coworkers are not very pleasant people then it can seriously affect the quality of your life so much so that you will start to hate your professional life. This can have a direct effect on your personal life as well as your career. Therefore, there is also no denying the fact that you ‘have to’ do something about it. To deal with a tricky situation at work becomes trickier because it is your reputation that is on stake. But do not stress, we are here to give you some good tips on how to deal with difficult coworkers. Follow these tips conscientiously and hopefully you will be in a much better position. Read on.
 
How to Deal with Difficult Coworkers
 
  • Before learning to deal with toxic people at work, the first thing to do is to recognize them. They can be in the form of a cut-you-downer, a two-faced backstabber, a gossiper, a meddler, an instigator or a nasty competitor. You have to carefully figure out who is our actual ‘bad guy’ here. There could be a group of people trying to be nasty to you but you will have to find out who leads this group and who has instigated the malice against you. You have to do this investigation only by observing the things around you. Do not talk about it to anyone at work as it might get you into trouble. Just be calm and sharply notice people’s attitude around you.
  • Beware of bad bosses. Though you do not have an option but to bear them, avoid putting them on defensive side in the event of a confrontation. It is one of the most risky situations to deal with. To be honest there is not much you can do about it anyway, other than resigning from your job. But really, life is full of difficulties and every now and then we come across vile people, we cannot run away from everything. Learn to deal with this situation as well. If your boss has bad attitude then learn to work out things in your favor. This might take patience and hard work but it will give you a lot in return, not to forget the precious lesson that you will retain for the rest of your life.
  • Once you have discovered the existence of difficult people around you, take stern actions. Let the person bothering you know that you are keeping track of his moves and will not hesitate to report the matter to a higher authority, if necessary. There is no way that you should bear conspiracies and malice from your colleagues and subordinates. Do not let the problem grow, rather uproot it. Tackle the problem in its nascent stage, practicing objectivity and emotional control.
  • Make sure to safeguard your reputation. Do not let other people feel that you are unable to fight for yourself or solve your own problems. Bullies thrive on fear and submission. If you will give this person a piece of your mind then he will know that it is not a good idea to mess with you. Vile people flourish on people who they think are weaker than them.
  • Do not drop down to the level of the problematic person. Please do not spread gossip about the person or send anonymous notes to him or her or bad-mouth him or her to the boss. You must care about your reputation in the office. If you will also do what the malicious person has been doing to you then when all is said and done, people will tarnish your image as well.
  • Keep the matter private and deal with it on a personal level. Never lose your temper at work or engage in a confrontation in front of your boss or colleagues. If you will bring it to everyone’s attention then people will definitely talk about you behind your back and you will feel isolated in no time. The less the negative attention is on you at workplace, the more you can peacefully exist there.
  • Make the first move if you feel the troublesome person is ready for truce. You should have enough grace in you to forgive the one who has wronged you. This will make you the bigger person and you should never lose an opportunity to take the high road.
  • Learn to agree to disagree. If there is particularly somebody you do not like, try and see his good side. Learn from other people’s opinions, ideas and experiences. This will keep your mind away from the problem.

How to Cite

More from iloveindia.com