Dealing with difficult co-worker

Have you ever encountered a difficult co-worker who frustrated you and you felt like giving up?
Do not leave your job, difficult workers seem to be at almost every workplace but how you handle them is what makes a difference.

Nicholas Bashaija says he almost quit his job when he had just joined radio as a fresh graduate. One of his co-workers always undermined his job, criticised all his ideas, and always fronted him as incompetent in front of other colleagues. He felt miserable each time he would set off for work until he confronted this colleague and demanded to know why she was always undermining him.
“If I had not decided to speak up, maybe this colleague would have tormented me up-to-date,” he notes.
Lucy Asiimwe, a human resource manager at Ministry of Public Service says every workplace has one or two difficult people.
She says these include those that talk constantly and never listen, those who think that their word should be final and those who criticise anything that they did not create.

“Difficult coworkers come in different forms, those who will accuse you falsely, those who will always oppose your ideas no matter how brilliant they are, those that will make you do work that is not supposed to be yours and many more,” she says.
However, she advises workers to learn how to deal with these contentious people so as to move on with their work. Below are some ways to deal with difficult co-workers.

Be calm: According to Rhitah Kirungi the state attorney West Nile Region, when dealing with a difficult co-worker it is important that one keeps calm.
“Raising your voice and flaring out at the other person is not the best way to get him or her to collaborate with you. Use of too much anger will trigger the person into anger, it is better to assume a calm persona,” she advises.
Kirungi says someone who is calm is always in control, centered and able to weigh situations and act more sensibly as compared to one who is hot-tempered.

Be upfront and tell them off: Bashaija says some people are not very self-aware and may need to be told constructively what the problem is.
My colleague was making barbed comments in my direction, she would always make it hard for me to raise any thing in the meeting until I took her aside and asked her why she was always cold towards me.
“When I told her about my feelings, she was defensive, she denied doing anything aimed at making me uncomfortable. However, ever since I informed her, she has never said anything against me during meetings and her actions towards me have greatly improved,” he observes.

Understand that each person has a different approach
According to Asiimwe, every team needs a mix of different personalities and approaches for work to move on smoothly. She advises workers to study their co-workers personalities so as to avoid conflicts at work.
“There are different characters at the workplace; the pessimist who will point out the flaw in the plan, the ideas person who will always challenge the status quo, the “doer” who is impatient with discussion and wants to get things happening and many others. So maybe your nemesis at work is simply someone whose approach is different from yours. Your styles may clash but that does not mean to say they are dysfunctional. In fact it might be just what the team needs, so try and understand them,” she advises.

Get some perspective from others
In all likelihood, your colleagues, managers and friends must have experienced similar situations in some way or another. So it is better to consult with them before taking on any actions.

Mix of characters
There are different characters at the workplace; the pessimist who will point out the flaw in the plan, the ideas person who will always challenge the status quo, the “doer” who is impatient with discussion and wants to get things happening, and many others.