Dealing with annoying co-workers
There is nothing worse than dealing with annoying workers in the workplace. There are six types of annoying co-workers according to Alison Green (Green, 2011). There are those that interrupt you when you are talking to others, those that seem to know it all, the slackers, the grump, the speakerphone lovers and the bubble mouths. I believe that in as much as communication is extremely valuable for an organization to function successfully, if its done professionally. Sharing ideas and interacting with fellow co-workers is advantageous because it helps with teamwork and improves interpersonal skills (Green, 2011). Everything must be according to some ideas or stories that do not improve the level of productivity at work should not be entertained or encouraged.
Green (2011) suggests that most of the annoying coworker problems can just be solved by ignoring them or just letting they slide. This however might not be the best solution because when you ignore small problems or just let them roll off your back you actually create room for even larger problems. When you ignore a problem according to Young (2011), it does not go away. One might also ignore a problem so much that they end up building resentment or even hatred towards their coworker; that ends up affecting their relationship and eventually their work. Green (2011) also suggests that you have to address problems head on and be straightforward and assertive. I actually prefer this method of dealing with annoying co-workers rather than just ignoring them. The catch here is to do it in a manner that is not angry, hateful, patronizing, or hostile.
One of the most annoying co-workers that I have encountered before is that of the slacker. I once worked as a research assistant where we were put in groups of two to collect information from employees on what they feel about their current jobs. We divided the work into two equal halves because we were supposed to interview a given number of employees per given company. However, when I was busy trying to complete my share of work, my colleague was taking up too much time per employee simply because instead of getting straight to the interview questions she would start chatting with the respondents on things that were not relevant to the job (Green, 2011). How I dealt with this problem was to initially ignore it and just do my work, but it still pulled me back because I had to step in and help her with some of her work so that we would meet the stipulated deadline. I guess our supervisor noticed that I was doing a lot more work than my colleague but chose to ignore because we still met the deadline and also because I did not raise any issue or complain. He must have assumed that I did not mind doing more work or maybe he just did not care as long as the work was done.
Because of Alison Green’s article, I now know the best way to deal with a slacker if their behavior is just not annoying but also affecting my work (Green, 2011). The next time I encounter such a person I will raise it with my boss instead of just ignoring it because it. Young (2011) suggest that we should always address problems head on and not ignore them because that does not make them go away any more than turning off the TV reduces the rate of murder.
References
Green, A. (2011). How to Deal with Annoying Co-workers. Retrieved from http://money.usnews.com/money/blogs/outside-voices-careers/2011/06/06/how- to-deal-with-annoying-co-workers
Young, D, (2011). Building Your Company’s Good Name. How to Create & Protect the Reputation Your Organization Wants & Deserves, 26(3): 72-79.
