4 Best Practices How to Deal With a Difficult Coworker CareerMetis.com

4 Best Practices How to Deal With a Difficult Coworker â€" CareerMetis.com Photo Credit â€" Pixabay.comWhether you are working in the office or at home, you will have to deal with people. Unfortunately, not all the coworkers are easy to work with.Some situations can be so complicated that you might consider leaving your job. However, there are no hopeless situations, and we have outlined some tips on how to deal with a difficult coworker.Being able to deal with difficult people at work might be quite challenging, but at the same time, it is a great opportunity to improve your communication skills and create a better working environment for yourself and your colleagues who also struggle at the workplace because of a difficult person.Types of colleagues that are hard to deal withevalDifficult coworkers come in many forms and shapes in all workplaces. How you deal with them depends on your self-confidence, your bravery and on how close you need to work with the person day-to-day during your working time.There are many types of people who appear to be hard to w ork with, but we will mention only some most widespread types of those who are really trouble at the workplace.1) Bullyat work is one of the most difficult people to deal with. The astounding amount of workers confesses that the reason for changing the job is being intimidated by a person they worked with. Those who quit the job felt not eager to go to work in order to avoid being insulted, yelled at and regularly criticized.2) Another type of person who are not easy to cope with is a negative coworker. They always complain about everything and find faults even in something that is great for everyone else. They constantly want your attention in order to express their dissatisfaction. In result, interaction with them drains you out of energy, brings distress and hampers you to be productive in the workplace.3)Gossiperscan be classified as another type of coworkers that may annoy you and disrupt your productive working. Of course, there are those employees who would be quite happy to know all office rumors, even if they are blown out of proportion. But you may feel uncomfortable around such people, as they want to share a lot of personal information about other colleagues that you do not want to know. They even may start nagging you to disclose what you know.4)Very often the top of the destructive forces at the workplace can be your own boss. He is the one who supposed to support, encourage, give direction and help you develop professionally. However, he ends up being the reason of why you dread going to work and get back home after working day devastated and stressed out.Motivating your employeesand encouraging them to develop their skills are the traits of a good boss, but, unfortunately, many of those who are in charge seem to miss this point, to the disappointment of the employees.4 ways of dealing with a difficult coworker1) Staying calmevalevalWhen the person is on the edge, it is difficult to take whatever he or she says seriously. It concerns all spheres of life, but it is especially relevant to the workplace, where you are supposed to stay professional and be in control of your emotions at all times.Dealing with an unpleasant coworker requires extra stamina because if you lose your temper, the chances that you pass your message to him decrease. Moreover, you might end up being considered the one who is actually a difficult colleague.2) Trying to understand the reasons behind an unpleasant behaviorThe last thing that you want to get into is why the colleague behaves the way that is annoying you. You are here to work and you are not his boss This can be solved in a brief, friendly conversation. Perhaps, the reason why the person is criticizing you and is trying to put you down is that he is intimidated by you.There are many reasons for the dysfunctional behavior of your colleague, but having a private conversation might help solve the issue.3) Ignoring a difficult colleagueIf the unpleasant coworker refuses to cooperate with you wit hout any intention to change the situation, the best solution might be to ignore him. It is better to avoid any communication with him and concentrate on your work.There are cases when it is impossible to eliminate the communication completely, so at least it should be kept to a minimum. Focus on your work, communicate more with other colleagues who give you a great energy and do not hinder your professional development.4) Getting to drastic measuresOkay, so you have done all you could and your colleague is still making your working environment unbearable. Now it is a time to ask for help from a higher authority. Of course, this should be done only in extreme cases when the situation is really out of hand and the person that you dislike disrupts working process way too much.If you decided in favor of this drastic method, be careful with your actions. If you complain too many times you might get yourself into a trouble. The higher authority might consider you the one who is unable to communicate with coworkers effectively and handle problems yourself.The majority of people spend more time at work with coworkers than at home with family and friends. Not so many of us are lucky to work in a great team which is supportive and facilitating for professional development.In fact, very often we face with coworkers that display disruptive, unpleasant and dysfunctional behavior. If there is such issue in your workplace, it seems that the best solution is to change a job.However, the experience of solving problems with difficult coworkers and ability to build positive relationships with members of your team will give you new skills that will for sure help you excel in your job and your career.