Manipulators in everyday life are not necessarily bad people. You might admire or even love a manipulator (they are frequently found in family contexts), but feel tormented by their constant conniving. I’ve dealt with a variety of difficult people over recent weeks, like the needy, controlling and aggressive, or the disrespectful, moody and procrastination-prone, but for many of […]
What a hot topic. Everyone seems to be handling a difficult person — whether it is a staff member, team colleague, customer or their manager. Or they have a difficult person in their personal lives. Certain types of difficult people affect us more than others. For example: Angry, aggressive, abusive, bullying; Moody, tired, depressed, teary; Uncommitted, unmotivated, […]
The old saying “never complain, never explain” could be changed to “never blame, never complain”, but would people ever do this? Of course not. Blaming and complaining causes stress We all do our best, but standards and expectations vary. It often boils down to the fact that while people might share a common language, there are codes, […]
Have you ever been confronted by a co-worker about your annoying behaviour? Are you considered an annoying co-worker? Do you change your ways? A recent survey of 2,000 American workers showed that when asked “Have you ever been aware that you’re annoying a co-worker, but done it anyway?”, an astounding 24% said ‘yes’. These people were most likely to […]
We know managers can be so upsetting for some that workers leave and find new jobs. But what about co-workers? Have annoying workers led you to change jobs? The latest research of 2000 American workers by Olivet Nazarene University claims to have uncovered the truth about annoying workers. Thirty-six percent of people said yes – […]
The “walk of shame” that teens like to snigger about has a whole new meaning these days, especially when applied to companies and organisations recovering from reputation damage. Acknowledgement and admissions I recently described an email United Airlines sent to me (and many others) apologising for its brutal bumping of a customer from a Chicago flight. As […]
Wounds from aggression and bullying can heal with time and absence from the source of the problem, but this won’t cause the issue to disappear of its own accord. Aggression in all its manifestations is exhausting. Some of you may feel “battle fatigue” and just want your lives back. Let’s try and understand what is going […]
We all face conflict at different times with An angry team member A furious customer A fuming boss An explosive workmate The client from hell… Usually we don’t get the practice we need to handle it well because It doesn’t happen all that often in most workplaces We often don’t have good role models around […]
A huge amount of unpleasant feeling is generated by conflict. That’s of course why we have courts and alternate dispute resolution measures in our legal system, but what about those conflicts in the workplace that create so much stress? There are seven practical techniques to dispel the bad side of conflict in the workplace and achieve […]
