Dealing With Difficult PeopleWe all have some people that we come across in our life that can be termed as "difficult to deal with". We encounter these different people in our personal and professional life both. Though there are very rare chances of meeting such person but you mite experience them on rare occasions. These people have different characteristics, such as passive, stubborn, negligent, negative,arrogant, disorganized or uncooperative. They differ in range from being mildly irritating to the You-Don't-Want-To-Mess-With-Me types. Dealing with difficult people at work is both an art and an attitude. Although every individual has his or her own personality; it would be convenient to categorize these people in order to learn effective ways to deal with them: 1) The-Know-it all-guy (Mr. Smarty Pants): These people have an (expert) opinion about everything regardless of whether they know any thing about the topic or not. They are bombastic, opinionated, poor listeners and lack the courage to admit that they do not know or are wrong. 2) The-Angry-Bully (Ms. Violent tantrums): These people use violence and humiliation to manipulate other people and to get there way. Bullies use information as a weapon and try to attack what they perceive is important for others. Bullies may either have low self-esteem and may look down upon themselves or may have an inflated ego and look down upon others. 3) The-Moody-Type (I have the Blues today): These people have frequent changes in mood, one minute they will be showering you with praises the next they will be gunning for your life. With these kinds of people around others have to not only do there work but also work at handling them. 4) The-Control-Freak (No Doughnuts For You Dave): These people can convert a working environment into a jailhouse. They want to control every aspect of your life, be it when you have your coffee break, the color of the pen you use, even who you date. They will even invade other people's personal lives if they perceive that it is hindering there work. These people are poor listeners and do not take anyone's advice. 5) The-Shy-Type (The Hermit): Unlike other type of people described above, these guys do not directly affect other people, however when getting work done from them is difficult. The more you push them, the more reclusive they become, thus bringing down the productivity of the entire team. Dealing with such varied temperament people, one needs lots of patience and presence of mind. Some factors that can prove successful in handling such people include: 1. While discussing some issues or problems with them, always keep it precise and to the point. Such attitude is helpful in minimizing a stressful situation at both the ends. 2. Your attitude should not be of just limiting yourself to certain boundaries while in company of the difficult people. Rather, one should always try to maintain integrity and self-esteem and at the same time should know the proper timings of when to speak. 3. If you are dealing with such people at a workplace, always do your homework first. Always do a deep research on the issue and collect the true facts. When you have everything ready, move forward with a professional outlook to execute your plan in dealing with them. When dealing with intoxicated people, these methods can also be applied. |