Difficult people affect your productivity on all levels.
Difficult people waste valuable time and energy by shifting your attention and focus onto them.
Ask yourself: Is this person wasting his or her own time, other people's time, or the company's money or resources?
A difficult person can diminish energy and enthusiasm in the workplace, causing departmental success to suffer.
Communication (especially when questions or problems arise) helps avoid the unrealistic expectations that can cause resentment.
Observing and maintaining boundaries is an important component of a comfortable working environment.
Difficult people are everywhere. It's best to learn how to cope with them successfully.
Understanding what makes a difficult person tick is critical. There are simple ways to avoid conflict that can make the difference between a satisfactory employee and a difficult employee.
As a manager, it is important to identify the key traits of difficult people and to learn ways to manage them without being distracted from your overall goals.
There are ten types of difficult people commonly found in the workplace: the Slave Driver, the Black Hole, the Minutiae Monster, the Busybody, the Recluse, the Bully, the Liar, the Outlaw, the Blamer-Complainer, and the Know-It-All.
Learning to work effectively with a difficult boss or coworker can improve productivity in the workplace. Just because a person is "difficult," doesn't mean that he or she won't have something to contribute.
Difficult people waste valuable time and energy by shifting your attention and focus onto them.
Ask yourself: Is this person wasting his or her own time, other people's time, or the company's money or resources?
A difficult person can diminish energy and enthusiasm in the workplace, causing departmental success to suffer.
Communication (especially when questions or problems arise) helps avoid the unrealistic expectations that can cause resentment.
Observing and maintaining boundaries is an important component of a comfortable working environment.
Difficult people are everywhere. It's best to learn how to cope with them successfully.
Understanding what makes a difficult person tick is critical. There are simple ways to avoid conflict that can make the difference between a satisfactory employee and a difficult employee.
As a manager, it is important to identify the key traits of difficult people and to learn ways to manage them without being distracted from your overall goals.
There are ten types of difficult people commonly found in the workplace: the Slave Driver, the Black Hole, the Minutiae Monster, the Busybody, the Recluse, the Bully, the Liar, the Outlaw, the Blamer-Complainer, and the Know-It-All.
Learning to work effectively with a difficult boss or coworker can improve productivity in the workplace. Just because a person is "difficult," doesn't mean that he or she won't have something to contribute.
Don't feel you have to immediately take on whatever the Slave Driver hands you. Focus on what is most important. Sit down with the over-delegating Slave Driver to analyze and prioritize your workload.
When dealing with the needy Black Hole, take the initiative, encourage moving ahead, bring him into the group, and build confidence.
Send the Minutiae Monster the message that doing something in a reasonable amount of time is as important as doing it right.
Give the Busybody productive activities that satisfy her need for interaction; assign her a research or reporting task to make efficient use of her natural curiosity.
Tread lightly with the Recluse, who may be shy or lack social skills; usually the Recluse does more than his share of work.
Divert a Bully's energies elsewhere by giving him a responsibility at which he can excel. Cordial interactions and increased confidence will soothe a Bully, making him less severe.
If you suspect you are dealing with a Liar, don't rely on your memory of incidents or statements; write everything down so that you have documentation when it is needed.
The Outlaw's questioning of authority might not necessarily be a bad thing; if her aim is to improve the status quo, encourage creativity, not compliance.
Acknowledge that mistakes are a fact of life, but reward problem solvers; doing so will encourage Blamer-Complainers to change. Use Blamer-Complainer's critical eye to find holes in any documents or presentations that are being prepared.
Work with the Know-It-All's strengths by assigning him the job of creating a database, for example, which would play into his desire to be Information Central.
It is key to open the lines of communication and to make sure that the difficult employee feels at ease communicating about problems on the job.
Implement a system of constructive criticism so that small problems can be addressed and corrected before they become major problems.
Give feedback to your employees so that you can monitor their progress and encourage any changes or improvements.
Respect can go a long way. Sometimes a difficult employee is feeling disrespected, either by his coworkers or by his superiors, because of miscommunication.
If the difficult person you face in the workplace is a boss or superior, try working your problems out diplomatically before moving ahead with a formal grievance process. Make sure you use good judgment and do not act upon your emotions. Remain level-headed and strong.
To manage difficult people and the problems that come with them, separate the problem from the person.
Use firing as a last resort; use constructive confrontation to resolve - or even prevent - conflicts and build coalitions.
The four steps of constructive confrontation are: conversation, covenant drafting, giving feedback, and celebrating accomplishments.
Reinforce the constructive confrontation cycle by repeating each step until long-term goals are achieved.
Give positive feedback in public, but give reprimands in private.
Sometimes there is no other option but termination. Be as diplomatic as possible to avoid any further confrontation in your workplace. Trust that you are doing the right thing for your business and then make sure you follow all the correct procedures with the support of your human resources department.
If you do need to terminate someone's employment, the best time is at the end of the workday, preferably at the end of the week; make a point to call a meeting the next workday to notify your other employees in person.