In a professional set-up, when someone tries to mess with you, it’s pretty tempting to respond to them. In the corporate sector, it does not work that way; dealing with aggressive people at work has it ways and it does not include talking back to the passive-aggressive human.
There are some colleagues who may bully you subtly; you may not even know that you’re dealing with someone so cold-hearted. However, this is the ugly truth. There are people out there who will want to cut you down. You need to keep calm and know when and how to deal with such aggressive people.
Studies by experts
According to HBR’s Michele Woodward, there’s a broad spectrum when it comes to figuring out the different kinds of inappropriate behaviours at work. Some popular names include jerks, bullies and so on. Experts collectively say that you never know what sort of spectrum you’re dealing with. For that you need extensive training to figure out who is hurting your emotions, how and why he’s doing it as well.
Gary Namie, one of the top psychologists in the West, says that there’s no way you can change a person. You need to take action for the change you wish to make! Based on this opinion and utmost research, let’s look into different ways of dealing with mean or aggressive colleagues at work:
Understand what is causing the mean behaviour
This is the first step. You need to know what exactly is causing the aggressive behaviour. A recent study under the University of Southern California discussed an idea about people acting out when their ego feels threatened. It is felt when someone else is performing well, intimidating the difficult person at work.
Try figuring out what makes these aggressive people so difficult to manage and work towards fixing the situation!
Look into yourself
I understand that self-evaluation is difficult. However, it’s one of the most effective ways to deal with difficult people at workplaces with high internal conflicts, competitions and more. Now, self-evaluation does not imply that you take all the blame on yourself; it’s more about striking the right balance between being a doormat and being intimidating.
Talk to yourself or write in order to understand and be constantly in touch with yourself for the best insights.
Learn to look out for yourself
Remember, no one will consider your wellbeing like you would. Calling out bad behaviour is actually a good thing to do; this way, you address the situation and the person inflicting it. For instance, if someone calls you ‘honeybun’ at work, don’t encourage it. Stop that person there and then and let him/her know how inappropriate the behaviour was.
Make a list of helpful people
Everyone has alliances at work; me too! I make it a point to list who can be my companions and advocates based on the situation, time and other criteria. It’s good to do so because they can help you introspect better, understand and explain multiple perspectives and so much more.
When you consider who can help you out during dark days, it makes life easier and you’ll be more motivated to fix the toxic work environment.
Discuss the price of bad behaviour at work with your CEO
When you discuss serious issues at work, it’s good to go to management before taking any legal action. Reason being, you are giving the wrongdoer a chance to fix their mistakes and move on. Talking to the management of your organization can help monitor and reduce mean behaviour sooner. They don’t want any lawsuits on their desks that can sabotage their reputation at work.
Know your limits
Read and do research on the kinds of difficult people you are dealing with. You can always sign up for courses for professional skill development at work or deal with the essential factors that lead to dealing with difficult people. Once you’re done researching, you can file the required lawsuits, negotiations, discussions and more.
Let’s foster a happy work environment!
