Dealing With A Difficult Colleague

Dealing with a tough colleague can be so difficult. It is quite understandable but nonetheless, it is pertinent that one handles every resultant situation(s) with care and wisdom.

I remembered my first few months in a particular organisation I once worked. There was an official car assigned to convey staff from a specific place to the office and as at that time, the four of us were on the same level except for one, the tough superior officer.

He would come behind schedule keeping everyone of us waiting and then appeared without a word of apology which seems like the polite thing to do. He would sometimes chat up his long-time friend who lives around where we converged while we all waited in the car praying and angrily wishing that his friend would dismiss the early morning gist between them in order for us to embark on our journey.

Not quite long, two of my colleagues stopped to follow the official car due to the constant delay and waiting caused by the senior officer.

I remembered how he almost slapped a junior colleague and resorted to abusive words because the junior colleague expressed his displeasure towards his attitude. There were situations where we had to work to please him in order for us to get an approval to embark on our official assignment as the final approval pertaining to the release of funds have to come from him. It was that tough! So we ended up taking his excesses in a calm manner even if its gets to us.

Your situation with that colleague of yours may differ from the scenario painted above, nonetheless, the solutions to handle these set of people may be applicable to all.

To handle a tough colleague(s) or superior, requires wisdom and the following steps not limited to all, can be taken in dealing with a tough colleague(s):

1. Start out by examining yourself. Are you sure that the other person is really the problem and that you're not overreacting? Have you always experienced difficulty with the same type of person or actions?
2. Try as much as possible to deal with them on an official ground.
3. Do not raise your voice. Maintain the low voice level but make sure it is firm.
4. Study their mood and know the right time to approach them.
5. Let people know you. Let them know your person and set your boundaries too. A tough colleague(s) also reads people too. When someone usually oversteps their boundaries especially with their jokes and silly comments, then politely caution the person so he/she also knows the limit.
6. In case of work related assignments, make sure you document whatever is assigned to you both. Infact maintain a mail thread so you can easily refer to your mail to avoid a clash or argument.
7. When annoyed, politely take an excuse and take a walk. You will be better to continue the discussion when you come back or better still find a better situation to address the issue calmly.
8. You can confront your difficult co-worker’s behaviour publicly. Deal with the person with gentle humour or slight sarcasm. Or, make an exaggerated physical gesture—no, not that one—such as a salute or place your hand over your heart to indicate a serious wounding.

Do you have another solution in handling a difficult colleague? Comment below and let’s hear from you.