Difficult personalities you encounter at work and advice on how to handle them

29 July 2015 Back

Difficult personalities you encounter at work and advice on how to handle them

As you well know, there are all sorts of difficult colleagues that you should avoid at work. There’s the one who likes to shout out the small error you’ve made, the one who tells you off to the boss to look better, the one who nags all the time, and many other. Do you know how to adapt your behavior to handle every one of them?

To handle the one who over-criticizes everything: ask for their opinion…

The one who over-criticizes everything is definitely part of the difficult colleagues you may encounter. It’s the person who has nothing interesting to say or report but who depreciates you to elevate themselves, pointing out a small detail in your work and attracting everyone’s attention to this small mistake although the rest of your work is very well done.

The secret is to draw the attention back to the person, who despite wanting to look brilliant cannot generally propose an alternative to what you did: They want to look good but have nothing at all to suggest. So, all you have to do is ask: “what would you do, instead?”

To handle betrayers: ask them for details

The betrayer is also a difficult personality to handle at work; it’s the one who likes to gossip and spread rumors, the one who will hurry to go tell your boss about mistakes or errors you’ve made (that are sometimes exaggerated or a figment of their imagination).

To deal with this sort of people, all you have to do is face them and ask what the basis for their conclusion is. If you ask them to be precise and present concrete proof, you are standing up to them. If you ask them to prove what they are suggesting, you’re denouncing them. This is the way to disarm them.

To handle the nagger: enlighten them

Chances are, you know at least one person in your professional circle, who nags and nags (as long as that’s not you). It’s the person who complains about everything and everyone. According to them, nobody cares, everyone sucks and everyone’s a moron, and the only people who are agreeable, competent and who care at all; nobody else does a good job.

Don’t hesitate to stand up to that sort of person, but calmly. Remind them of the facts that they forgot to take into consideration and keep away from them so people don’t presume you’re alike.

To handle the loner: Leave them alone

The office loner is the one who does not wish you a good morning when you cross him. They don’t smile; they barely look at you, actually. If ever you take a leap and say hello, they reply with a grunt.

Don’t make the mistake of thinking that their behavior is linked to you.

The loner may seem to rediscover your existence when they come into your office, they say hello and ask for something, then they wouldn’t recognize you for days and days.

Their behavior surely drives you on edge, but just think that their day is sad, and move on to other things.

To handle the sneak: talk to your boss objectively and calmly

There’s also that person who threatens to “go talk to the boss”. They think they’ll look better by making you look worse.

Be professional:

· Keep your boss informed of the good progress that your team does.

· Talk about the misunderstandings that go on with that colleague.

· Talk about how you solved the misunderstanding.

To handle the manipulator: Remain faithful to your ideas

We’re only talking about the manipulators that look charming and resort to emotional blackmail. For instance, if you fight with them they get angry and give you the impression that you’ve lost a great “friendship”.

To handle this sort of people you should always stick to your values and opinions, don’t hesitate to express your opinions even if they are against the manipulator’s views.