Your supervisor or human resources department is supposed to find ways to resolve this conflict and make you feel safe and respected at work. Work it Out: Getting Along with Co-Workers. Tips for getting along with difficult coworkers 1. This may especially be helpful in communicating with hostile female coworkers. Essentially, just let them ‘beat’ you – stay focused on your work and don’t let them think that you’re competing with them in any kind of way. Getting along with difficult coworkers can be hindered when that coworker is someone intent on one-upping you every single chance they get. Every workplace has drama, but that doesn't mean you have to be part of it. If your coworker is making it difficult for you to feel comfortable at work, it may be... 2. Your co-workers are a central part of your work experience, but getting along with co-workers is not always easy. How to Get Along With Difficult Coworkers Extend an Olive Branch to Difficult Coworkers. Although you deserve to be treated with respect, this insight may help you understand the way they see things. More workplaces are embracing the idea that your career clothing shouldn't have to conform to traditional gender norms. Difficult people come in every variety that you can imagine. How about a coworker who had personal hygiene problems or exuded the smell of alcohol and coffee at work? My experience underscores this principle. Ask your HR manager for tips about how to get along with your coworker. (With Examples). Getting along with this person is an important part of developing your conflict resolution skills and learning to overcome adversity. Do you have a coworker who talks over you at meetings, who regularly criticizes your performance, and steals credit for your work? Unfortunately, this may seem impossible at times, especially if one of your coworkers insist on not getting along … Here's how you can courageously address coworkers who have annoying habits in your workplace. Be The Better Person If you find that a co-worker is always breaking bad on other employees and has a proclivity for office politics and gossip, try to distance yourself from that person. Job interview questions about working with difficult team members give employers insight into your ability to handle tough situations. Building alliances at work is smart and effective behavior when you want to develop positive coworker relationships. The easiest way to do this is to use an example from your background and experience. 10 Tips for Dealing With Difficult People at Work, Tetra Images/Brand X Pictures/Getty Images, Christopher Robbins/Digital Vision/Getty Images, ONOKY - Eric Herchaft/Brand X Pictures/Getty Images, 10 Tips for Building Relationships With Your Coworkers, How to Deal With a Bully in the Workplace, Dealing With Difficult People Is a Must for Your Career Success, Use These Ideas to Know How to Deal With Your Difficult Boss, Surprising Examples of Lapses in Workplace Ethics, Take 5 Steps to Successful Conflict Resolution in the Workplace, How to Answer Interview Questions About Getting Angry, How to Assess a Potential Employee's Conflict Resolution Skills, The Respectful Way to Confront a Problematic Employee, How to Know If You Have a Hostile Work Environment, The Best Ways to Deal With Your Annoying Coworkers, Your Top 10 Tough, and Common, Human Resources Questions and Problems, Progressive Discipline in the Workplace and How It Works, improve your own work environment and morale, Overcome Your Fear of Confrontation and Conflict, better and more comfortable with the necessary conflict, need professional feedback provided professionally, Tackle Annoying Employee Habits and Issues. Approach the coworker as a friend. Have you worked with a coworker who had annoying habits such as loud gum chewing or bringing personal issues to the office every day? That's where gender neutral attire comes in. You may find that they return the kindness, and you both can move forward. This can be hard at times. Posted July 27th, 2010. If other coworkers are talking about this person, keep your opinions to yourself. You can team together to address the behavior or inform management and Human Resources staff to get help addressing the employee issue before it spirals into negativity. Getting Along with Difficult Coworkers. Being grateful for the good things in your life can make this one challenging part seem smaller. Not hitting it off with your co-workers? Too often, employees have difficult bosses who have a negative impact on their desire to engage and contribute in the workplace. Reflect on which behaviors of theirs you find the most challenging. By continuing to treat others with kindness and respect, you're showing that you are the more mature person in this situation. You can achieve job security if you are viewed as a superstar by your organization. 5 Ways to Get Along with Difficult Coworkers as a Certified Nursing Assistant Working as a CNA requires team effort, and for this reason, it is important for you to get along with your coworkers. Be Brutally Honest with Your Coworker Confronting the person who is making you sick and telling him really nicely what he’s doing to make your workday awful can sometimes get him to stop. They’ll soon … You may find that you both have developed a feedback loop of behavior. Bosses can make or break an employee's day. Every employee has bosses who provide direction throughout their working careers. By using The Balance Careers, you accept our. First, you objectively state what happened that resulted in the difficult situation with the person. ... And let’s not forget the meddler and, possibly the most difficult of co-workers, the take-no-prisoners competitor. Which makes answering a question like "tell me about a time you disagreed with a coworker" a tough one to answer. Ask her to grab lunch or coffee — or just pull her aside and ask if you can talk — and tell her how you’re feeling. You can increase your skill in dealing with the difficult people who surround you in your work world. Effective relationships, with the boss and coworkers, create success and satisfaction on the job. When limiting your interactions, make it subtle in order to be mindful of their feelings. If your coworker causes actual problems with your work, talk to your manager. Learning how to manage conflicts can help you maintain a more harmonious work environment. If … Showing kindness and “doing the right thing” will help you feel happier and more fulfilled at work. No matter how much that coworker irks you, check your emotions at the door and start each... 2. Having an excuse to get away from a difficult coworker can help. The moment you choose sides in any kind of office incident is the moment you lose your ability to get along with some portion of the people you work with. Healthy competition in the workplace is fine, but some coworkers tend to take it too far. These alliances are also crucial for dealing with difficult or destructive coworker behavior in the workplace. Using "you" language may make it difficult for them to accept responsibility for their actions. Don’t skip this step! Even if this person acts unprofessionally, it's important that you have the skills to be the better person. Susan Heathfield is an HR and management consultant with an MS degree. Try to separate your emotion from how … It often seems that people have nothing better to do than gossip about each other. Find out more about dealing with negativity. As you learn to accept or confront their behaviors, you can begin to focus on yourself and those you enjoy more. Dealing with difficult people is much harder if the individual is publicly undermining your professional credibility, claiming credit for your contributions or attacking you personally like a bully. They always have bad bosses who are jerks who always treat them unfairly. Why they’re asking: You’re going to come across people who are difficult in every office (ever). Avoid answers like: "I don't usually have disagreements with coworkers because it's my way or the highway. You can build rapport in any professional setting by taking time to learn and understand the other party. When this person begins to break company policies or is negatively impacting your work, it may be time to bring up the issue to your supervisor or human resources department. This may be your other coworkers, the actual work you do or your job's perks. To deal with a difficult coworker, don't take anything they do personally, and try to remember that they might be acting difficult because they're going through something in their own life. Give yourself credit for getting through an uncomfortable situation. The company is always going to fail, and its customers are worthless and demanding. They play such a significant role with the employees who report to them. 6. After getting to know them better, you may realize that their background and life experiences shape their behavior and point of voice. 6. You might need to take a step back. Avoid Office Drama. Respect. 1. If you want to attain some happiness at work, you must address these issues. The information on this site is provided as a courtesy. And, as difficult as it may be, try to find positive things about the person you can hang on to when the going gets really rough. You can obliterate destructive gossip from your workplace. Sometimes being self-deprecating can make things easier. When you spend so much time with the same people, you are bound to experience some form of conflict, which can often make accomplishing your daily tasks more difficult and even inhibit career growth. In order to alleviate the problem, You should approach a difficult coworker sooner … Use the same tone you would use to raise any other work-related problem. Dealing with difficult people is easier when the person is just generally obnoxious or when the behavior affects more than one person. You can ruin both your job and your career by the relationships you develop with your coworkers at work. They don’t like their jobs, and they don’t like working for their company. Save your energy at work for discussing positive things about others. Learn to accept that you need to get along with this person. Indeed is not a career or legal advisor and does not guarantee job interviews or offers. These tips will help you feel more comfortable when you need to confront a coworker. tags: coworkers editor's pick featured getting along with coworkers getting along with difficult coworkers management original previous 3 Interviewing Practices That Ruin Great Candidate Experiences and How to Win Them Over . Dealing with difficult people is easier when the person is just generally obnoxious or when the behavior affects more than one person. Make an effort to form positive relationships with your other coworkers. As you learn how to work around their quirks or difficult behaviors, you can focus more on your own work and coworkers you enjoy. Nothing is more destructive in the workplace than difficult bosses. Unfortunately, the chances of them going away are next to nil. It takes a lot of energy not to act like a jerk when someone else is behaving badly. Do you think that you work with a bully? They make life difficult, and they may even make you question your sense of self-worth. You do if you regularly feel intimidated, dread to work anywhere near a particular coworker, and feel dismayed and upset about having to go to work. They gossip about their coworkers, their managers, and their company's prospects for success. If you can, just try to ignore them and not let it get to you. 3. Everyone has their own things to deal with, which could explain the way your coworker acts. If you must talk about this person, save it for a friend or family member who is not connected to your work. Learn more about seven effective work relationship musts. Seek Help With the Disliked Coworker . In this article, we share how to deal with a difficult coworker. Have you encountered any of these examples of needing to deal with difficult people at work? Document this coworker's adverse behaviors so you have proof of what they have been doing. She has covered HR for The Balance Careers since 2000. It's hard to avoid some types of conflict at work. Although you may enjoy many of the people you work with, you should know how to work with people you find difficult. But disagreements between co-workers are inevitable—and showing prospective employers that you're well versed in conflict resolution is crucial. A manager piled extra work on me even when I told her I was already overwhelmed. But, in the event that a coworker is a difficult person, you'll need additional skills in your interpersonal skills arsenal. Difficult people are found in every single workplace. Do you need some help and ideas about how to hold a difficult conversation? 10 Ways to Get the Most From Your Internship, 12 Ways to Deal With a Difficult Coworker. You also make your workplace a better environment for all employees when you address the problems that a difficult coworker is causing for the team. Knowing how to deal with a difficult coworker is an important life skill. You can vastly improve your own work environment and morale when you increase your ability to deal with the people at work. Holding a difficult conversation can have positive outcomes when the conversation is approached properly; here's how to attain them. Often when people are worried about how a... 2. Be the person who breaks this loop and try treating them with kindness for a change. You want to be well known and liked among the people the company regards as their superstars, allies who have power and will speak up for you. Fortunately, in most workplaces, you spend the majority of your days dealing with the normal, everyday people in the office. Much of the time, people are completely oblivious to how their behavior makes other people feel. Related: The Most Effective Ways to Interact with Challenging Employees. If you answer yes to these questions, then the chances are that you’re one of 54 million Americans who have been targeted by a bully at work. Related: The Best Ways to Get Along With Coworkers (Plus Tips and Examples). Dealing with difficult situations at work is challenging, yet rewarding. Most people, even the most difficult of coworkers, usually have some good traits. Here are a few examples of "I" versus "you" language: Related: Interview Question: "How Do You Handle Conflict in the Workplace?". That’s obvious. Limiting the amount of time you spend with this coworker can help you cope with the situation. They're just examples of the types of behavior that cry out for responsible feedback from a coworker or boss. Related: Interview Question: "How Would Your Coworkers Describe You?" Tips for a making a great impression during your internship, including advice on being prepared, following through and making new connections. You won't succeed in your career without forming positive relationships at work. Focus directing your energy and passion toward things that really matter. Sometimes getting to know your challenging coworker's perspective can … Doing so can help you be successful at work. 1. The interviewer wants to know if you're a team player and capable of resolving minor issues that may arise. Whether the confrontation is about sharing credit for work accomplished, coworker habits and approaches that are irritating or sloppy, intentional missed customer delivery deadlines, or about keeping a project on track, sometimes you need to confront your coworker. Consider asking one of your favorite coworkers to do something fun outside of work. Although confrontation should not be your first step, you can become better and more comfortable with the necessary conflict. Be Kind. The point is you need to get across that you took initiative to find a solution. Common interview question: “Tell me about a time when you worked with a difficult person.” or “Tell me about a time you worked with someone challenging”. In every workplace, you will have difficult coworkers. It's best to deal with these kinds of conflicts in private rather than bringing other coworkers into it. These tips will help you. From co-workers and colleagues to friends and family, we are faced with challenging relationships daily. You know these negative coworkers—every organization has a few. You may find that this coworker isn't doing anything wrong, but you simply don't enjoy their personality. Remaining neutral is how you can help maintain a positive work environment for everyone. They really are there to help and many times, it's possible for a manager to rearrange assignments so that you don't have to constantly interact with a coworker you don't like. Gossip is rampant in most workplaces. 5. don’t take it personally Try to show this person that you want to work with them, not against them. Leave Emotions at the Door. Casual conversations with uplifting people throughout the day can make you feel happier at work. Solution: The best coping method is to just simply avoid engaging in any form of competition with them. Confronting a coworker is never easy, but it's often needed if you want to stick up for your rights at work. But, how difficult a person is for you to deal with depends a lot on such factors as your self-esteem, your self-confidence, how closely you must work with them on a daily basis, and your professional courage. Will you add to the melee or can you step back and remain levelheaded? At lunch or during meetings, stay by coworkers who you find kind and uplifting. These steps will help you hold difficult conversations when people need professional feedback provided professionally. How to deal: As uncomfortable as it might be, the most effective plan of action is to hash things out with her. We all have at least one: the coworker, client, or boss you just can’t stand. Try to show empathy and compassion as you get to know this person better. But don't go straight to the difficult co-worker or your boss. Collaborate with them, but make sure to leave a paper, or carbon copy, trail indicating that you worked on projects. Perhaps you and another employee strongly disagree about how to tackle an... Keep it Professional. This is a normal part of life, as you find people you enjoy and people you want to avoid. After all, they were hired and have been kept on the payroll for a reason! Try to find things you enjoy about their personality and give them a chance to show their good side. If you have felt psychologically or physically threatened at work, you work with a bully. But, for most people, holding a difficult conversation about a sensitive topic is challenging at work. Whether inventing a phone call you have to make, work you have to do right away or another excuse, spend as little time with the toxic coworker as possible. Your answer might include holding meetings to address a procrastinating coworker or agreeing to a compromise on a particular issue where viewpoints differed.