Like or not, we spend almost every day with our coworkers, and it’s key to our career success — not to mention overall well-being — to get along. Read on for creative solutions to handle the worst of the worst.
1. Si Pemalas
Someone who doesn’t hold their own at work can cause serious issues. Lazy coworkers often act as if they’re doing you a favor just for showing up. Then, if you’re on the same team or project, you end up doing their work and resenting them for it. It’s unfair to you, plus the overall product ends up suffering.
They’re usually impossible to motivate, and they take advantage of others — assuming if you covered for them once, you’ll do it again. The solution is to cut them off from their source. People in authority will see their lack of performance. It can be hard to let something slide, but ultimately your boss has to know that they’re not pitching in.
2. The Busybody
Busybodies feel entitled to more information about your life than you feel comfortable sharing, and they can be incredibly persistent when they want details about your love life, your health issues, or even your reproductive plans.
The most important thing is to remember that you’re not obligated to share personal details if you don’t want to. People often reward busybodies with answers because they feel rude not responding, but there’s nothing rude about declining to share overly personal information. It’s fine to say, politely but firmly, that a topic is off-limits.
3. The Chatty
It's great to get to know a co-worker better, but sometimes hearing about her kids when you have work to do really isn't an ideal situation. If you don't want to be rude, one idea is to get up and continue the conversation while walking to her desk, which she will naturally sit down at. Then continue pleasantries for a bit, before making your goodbyes and heading back.
4. The Grump
If you’ve ever worked with someone who exudes negativity, you know how draining it can be to interact with them. Suggestions, new projects, new hires, and especially new managers are all terrible in a grump’s eyes, and they’ll make sure you know it.
If you’re the grump’s manager, you should address the negativity head-on. Otherwise, it can have a corrosive effect on your team over time. But if you’re not in a position of authority over your office grump, one of the best ways to respond is to have a sense of humor about it. It’s also worth remembering that happy people don’t behave like this. Trying to cultivate sympathy for what’s clearly a troubled mindset can sometimes make dealing with difficult people a little easier.
5. The Know-It-All
They have to be right, they always act like have the answer — even when they know next to nothing about the topic. Not only is it frustrating, but because they're pushy about broadcasting her opinions, they might get adopted over other, better plans. The easiest way to handle them is to let them speak first — and actually listen instead of tuning them out. Affirm what they say, then ask if they’d be interested in hearing your input. Once they’ve made their point, they can be receptive to taking in other people’s ideas.