Dealing With Difficult People

You have landed your dream job and cannot wait to hit the ground running. You love your responsibilities and are eager to contribute to the team and company. While you’re likely to encounter a lot of dedicated and engaging people, it’s inevitable that you will meet a co-worker or a supervisor who can be very difficult to work with.

Interacting with a difficult person can be quite frustrating and demoralizing, especially in the work place. Separating your personal from your business ego or persona is an integral part of dealing with difficult people.

If you’re still reading this blog post then you’re wanting to find a solution on how to work with difficult people. First and foremost, I want to say that I’m not a professional and I can only speak from professional experience. Below are some techniques I use when I find myself having to work with a difficult person.

Step Back & Reevaluate

I try to understand the reason behind why my co-worker or boss behaves the way they do. If they are having issues and generally behave in a reasonable manner, the difficult behavior may be the result of stress at work or some other personal matters outside of work. If the behavior is something that recurrs often, is intimidating or impolite, regardless of the amount of stress in the work place, the chances are not likely that they will change their behavior. Remember that you can only control how you react and you can’t control the actions of others. Monitor and manage your own negative emotions regarding the difficult person’s behavior so that you do not engage in some kind of self-defeating behavior. When you understand and are able to manage your own negative reactions, you may be able to communicate your concerns in a positive manner, to create a better work atmosphere.

Be Proactive

It’s likely that you’re already too frustrated with your difficult co-worker/supervisor because they continue to display bad behavior. Why else would you still be reading this post, right? The best way to deal with a difficult person is to have a plan of action by anticipating the bad behavior. For example, you may just need to ignore the behavior or if necessary contact someone from Human Resources to report the behavior.

Keep It Professional

If you are going to report the behavior to Human Resources, make sure that you follow proper procedures for filing a complaint. Maintain a calm and professional attitude in dealing with the difficult co-worker/supervisor, and do not let your emotions get out of hand. Don’t ever resort to name-calling or starting rumors, but be straightforward and professional. You should discuss your concerns and do not confront the difficult person. Remember that communication is a key part in the work place, we often are required to work with others who may challenge our abilities to get things done. Everyone can be irritable at times, even You! There is great value in taking the time to try to understand the other person’s point of view. By changing our attitude towards them, we can help improve our own ability to work with difficult people.