The average worker spends 40 hours a week at their place of employment. This translates to around 160 hours a month, and about 1,920 hours a year (give or take a few weeks of vacation and sick days). Thus, we spend a lot of time working with others on a day to day basis. Naturally, no job is without tension, conflict, or simple disagreements. No one company exists in harmony, with its employees holding hands and getting along 24-7. However, nothing is more uncomfortable than having to go to work every day and encounter co-worker(s) that seek to annoy, irritate or even anger you. Unless you are the boss of your own company and have the power to hire or fire at will, then chances are you can’t choose who works with or around you. Put simply, some co-workers make it difficult to enjoy the job. These type of people can make an already intolerable work week that much more horrible.
Sometimes you wonder – am I going to make it through this day without going completely off on this individual? You may even be typing up your resignation letter in your head. Well, stop right there!
Recognizing how to handle toxic co-workers is important because if you don’t, then those types of people will stress you out, turn others against you, and even have you fired from the job. Here are a few ways to deal with those at your place of employment.
Click below to read on.....
1. Keep Your Cool: It is a human instinct to defend yourself when someone is treating you in an unfair manner. Don’t ‘fly off the handle’ before taking an assessment of the situation at hand. People have gotten themselves in trouble by mouthing off without asking questions to find a solution.
2. Take Immediate Action: If someone feels that they can push your buttons, then they will continue to do so until they have achieved their goal. Silence only makes the situation worse. Don’t be afraid to take a stand and speak up for yourself. Let your superiors know what’s going on and how this affects the work environment. If you follow the company procedures, then you will be covered in the long run.
3. Keep Records: People forget this important step without realizing how useful it can be in dire situations. Document these altercations and protect yourself from another person’s dishonesty.
4. Keep Business Confidential: Some people thrive off of gossip and confrontations. It is very unprofessional to engage in a public argument so please keep your business personal.
5. Remember Your Goals: Irritating co-workers can make you lose focus of your professional objectives. Demonstrate that you have the intelligence, skills, and talent to not only be a leader, but also a team player.
6. Don’t Fight Fire with Fire: It is not up to us to give someone else their ‘karma.’ Though it may be difficult to resist, don’t sink to their low level. Chances are, that person is baiting you so that they can use your actions against you.
7. Be Kind: I know, I know – that’s a tough one right? Wrong. Sometimes an unexpected smile, positive comment, or act of kindness throws a person off their guard. Spread warm and welcoming vibes because negative energy + negative energy do not equal positive energy! Don’t allow another person’s sour disposition to ruin your day.
I want to hear other views on toxic co-workers. Share how you were able to effectively deal with a difficult co-worker (no names please lol) and give your take on this topic. Post this topic on Facebook and invite your friends to READ-MY-EXPRESSION. Comment Below….
Toxic co-workers come in all types of characters. There’s the person who wants your position and tries scheming to make you look bad. Some co-workers are quite frankly too incompetent to do the job, and in turn slows down the productivity on the job. There are workers who have terribly nasty dispositions and whose energy pulls everyone else into a slump.
You may think, “Once I leave this job, I will not have to deal with this type of co-worker again.” Simply put – that’s not true. Every workplace has its sneaky, pushy, whiny, rude co-workers. It is up to you to recognize the patterns and manage them to preserve your own sanity (and others around you).
Great article, Erica!!! This is wonderful advice. I wanted to chime in and share a little bit about an experience I had at a previous employer. I was in a very toxic work environment w/ very toxic middle management supervisors. They were "old heads" who had been working there forever and thought us, "newbies" shouldn't be able to voice an opinion and so forth. This doesn't mesh well with my personality at all. Some of them tried to cut you off in mid-sentence, talk crazy to you, talked about you behind your back, and, on top of all that, they were INCOMPETENT. I hate incompetency and feel very strongly that if you don't know the answer to a question, simply say you don't know and GO FIND OUT THE ANSWER FROM SOMEONE WHO DOES. What I did was simple: I stopped debating with them and started documenting all their incidents of crazy talk and miscommunication. I saved emails and meeting agendas and documented specific quotes of managers to demonstrate how disrespectful and unprofessional they were. I then requested a meeting with HR and with the President of the company and presented a 15 page presentation w/ all relevant supporting documentation. To make a long story short, all the management were either demoted, one was demoted and suspended, resigned on their own b/c of the changes, the top two were terminated, and my reporting encouraged other co-workers to report their experiences. It was hell in that place and I felt it just takes one and that one had to be me. Stand up for yourself is right but preparation and professionalism is key. The changes in management didn't happen overnight but it did happen in less than a year. Thanks for the article. Crazy, toxic co-workers should not be allowed to get away with their mess.
ReplyDeleteI am currently working with a new employee who is invasive overly opinionated , and makes nasty comments behind other peoples back. This person does what they want, helps who they want and is manipulative. I think they are paranoid, and are very confrontational about, well, everything that doesn't go their way. Very scary. I know people like this eventually hangs themselves, and that's what I'm waiting on. Already talked to mgmtabout this, and sm keeping my fingers crossed. This person defines toxicity
ReplyDeleteToxic and harmful employees are only something you can contain if management sees the problem. If the leadership sees no problem with said person, then it makes no sense to stand up for yourself. In my current situation, I seriously wonder if I am the only one who notices this person's behaviors even though he can be rude, finish sentences and interrupt conversations with other people as well. In the three months he has been with us, he has been out with family issues, missing crucial presentations and his car conveniently breaks down (3x now) when he doesn't want to do something, yet there doesn't seem to be a problem for company leadership. It is the most bizarre thing and it seems to be getting worse. I am trying not to lose my cool.
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