Strategies for Managing Difficult People at Work

A difficult person can be an individual who has a different perspective of the world from you, but he may also disrupt order at work.

Here are some strategies to help you in dealing with difficult people at work:

Overpowering - Uses anger as a destructive weapon

Strategy to handle overpowering behaviour:

- Let them express their anger

- Try to empathise

- Get to the root cause once they have calmed down

Unresponsive - Uses silence as a weapon

Strategy to handle unresponsive behaviour:

- Use open-ended questions to get them to talk rather than just getting a 'yes' or 'no' response

Loner - Does not see himself as part of the team

Strategy to handle loners:

- Explain to him how he is perceived by the rest of his colleagues

- Clarify what being a team entails

- Highlight how their strengths contribute to the team

Negative - Complains and disagrees with everything

Strategy to handle negative behaviour:

- Stay positive and avoid being dragged down to their level

- Deploy their 'trouble-spotting' ability to good use on projects

- Point out past examples that worked