4 Easy Ways to Handle Difficult Co-workers

We all have difficult co-workers. And sometimes it becomes really hard to continue working with them.

But when you have a permanent job, you have no choice other than to go back to the same office every day and work with the people you can’t stand.

The problem, however, is that working with such people can cause stress and worsen your working condition. This, in turn, will hamper your productivity and decrease your efficiency.

This means working with such people can hamper your performance, prevent professional growth, and might even jeopardize your job.

That’s why it becomes important that you learn how to handle these difficult co-workers and maintain a peaceful environment at work.

But how do you do that? In this post, we’ll look at some of the easy ways to handle difficult co-workers. So let’s get started.

1. Learn to Voice your Thoughts

When you have difficult co-workers who are making it difficult for you to feel comfortable at work, it becomes important to confront them directly.

But this doesn’t mean that you’ll end up having a physical fight.

What you can do instead is to voice your thoughts. Just let them know how their behavior makes you feel.

But instead of saying ‘you make me feel uncomfortable by doing…’, try using something like - ‘I feel uncomfortable when you do…’.

It’s a good way of letting the other person learn about the situation from your position and make them stop behaving the way they do.

2. Accept Their Personality

Some people don’t change, no matter how hard you try. And trying to change them is only like wasting your own energy.

So the best approach for dealing with such people is to accept their personalities.

Remember you go to the office with a certain goal. Don’t let yourself be distracted from that goal because of some unimportant person.

Just ignore their behavior and do what you need to do best to achieve your goal.

3. Limit Your Interactions

Sometimes it can be a smart move to limit interactions with the negative people around you.

But doing that can be difficult, especially if you are in the same team. At such times, try reaching out to your supervisor.

Let them know about your problem and request him/her to change your team. If that’s not possible, try to limit your interaction to only work-related matters. At other times, avoid them and be as far away from them as possible.

Limiting interaction will limit their opportunity to bother you. So you’ll be able to work more peacefully without hampering your productivity.

4. Talk to Them

Sometimes talking to the person who’s making things difficult for you can help you find a solution to what’s exactly causing the problem.

So try to have a one-on-one conversation with them and find out what the problem is.

In doing so, don’t approach the situation with anger or frustration. To have a healthy discussion, you need to start with a peaceful mind.

So do it when you’re not angry or frustrated. Make a list of questions that you want to ask them.

This can help clarify things and give you a different perspective on the situation. You never know what’s triggering the negative attitude in them.

It might have something to be with you, but you may be ignorant about it. Knowing about it gives you the opportunity to rectify things and create a more positive relationship with them.

Over to You

Working with difficult co-workers isn’t easy. But you can’t ignore them either, since you’ll have to meet them on a daily basis.

That’s why it’s important that you take the right step at the right time and do your best to deal with them. The above tips can help you do that and create a better environment at work.