Do you like your job. And, for sure, you are on good terms with most of your colleagues (especially the guy who treats everyone with donuts on Fridays). But there are also a few people in your office who seem to want to spoil your life on purpose. This article will tell you about three types of toxic people and how to deal with them.
Inadequate
How to determine: he pushes his elbows in front of you to get you to the cooler, and last week he took a loan for your joint group project, and he stepped on your foot, not even apologizing after. And once he shouted at you in front of the whole department! The strangest thing about inadequacies? Very often they do their job well, sometimes they are even the best in their field. However, they just turn your life into hell.
How to fight: listen to him. Psychologists and experts on interpersonal relations suggest sympathizing with such a colleague. Ask yourself: “What could happen in the past of this person, that he became so?” Most likely, he had a difficult childhood, or was treated badly at another job, and he thinks that he needs to act in such a way as to prevent recurrence similar actions. It is much easier to attack yourself than to listen to attacks from other people again. However, showing sympathy is not the same as opening up to him and becoming a friend. "Inadequate can try to spoil your reputation or abuse your kindness by telling others some unpleasant information about you."
Disagreeing
How to determine: the motto of the dissenting colleague: "It will never work." He will always find reasons why your plan is worthless. However, it never gives useful tips on how to solve a problem. The dissent never argues his criticism, makes no proposals - he simply opposes.
How to fight: first of all, listen to his position. This is quite complicated, since all his opinion will be covered by a caustic attitude and sarcastic statements. However, to solve the problem, you still have to listen to it. Then ask as many questions as possible: “What made you think about this? How would you suggest us improve this? Do you have any ideas on how to accomplish this? ”If your opponent has no arguments, then most likely you will hear a lot of compliments to your project / plan from other colleagues. But the "dissent" will fail and will hardly contradict you for no reason.
Loafer
How to determine: this is a person who promises too much, but does not fulfill. Somehow, he captivates the other colleagues so much that they do all the work for him. However, the authorities do not notice this. And the loafer is in a very good position.
How to fight: under no circumstances do not take up the work of a loafer. This will be especially difficult if you are working on one project, and failure to do the work will also negatively affect you. However, do not give in to temptation. Instead, you can report this problem to the boss, focusing on the fact that you are trying to make the project better, but a colleague slows down the process. Most likely, in this case, your boss will eliminate the "weak link".
Extreme measures
If all else fails, find out if it is possible to rearrange your desktop away from a toxic colleague or even change your office.According to Thomas Allen, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, people are four times more likely to talk to a colleague who is six feet away than to a person who is 60 feet away.
These tips will help you deal with toxic colleagues. And you will be much more pleasant to come to work.