15 foolproof ways to deal with difficult people at work

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Human Resources

I’m sure you already are or possibly were in the situation wherein you had to deal with difficult people at work. Such situations have always proven to be extremely crazy, frustrating, frightening and maddening! To be honest, it’s very difficult to reason with unreasonable people like them.

I guarantee you, you’ll find difficult people everywhere. It’s not anyone’s fault; everyone’s unique and they have their own ways to deal with things. However, there are few strategies to Deal with difficult People at Work, without any troubles.

Don’t worry anymore because you now have access to foolproof ways in which you can deal with difficult people in the workplace:

1. Listen. People who listen to know exactly how to deal with such unreasonable people. This is because they’re never heard. Once they’re heard, they tend to calm down themselves and feel that you’re their friend. Listen truly, observe the person and help him out.

2. Don’t judge. It’s easy to do so but, it’s best to not do so. We don’t know why a person is away he is. Once you judge a complicated person at work, there’s a high chance you will never understand him, leading to more misunderstandings. Be good at managing people like them and be open to whatever they say.

3. Keep calm. Keep your cool, especially when it’s an emotionally heated situation. There’s no point for you to get caught in the situation. All you need to do is, keep track of your breathing rate and be cool.

4. Give respect and stay dignified. Irrespective of how whoever reacts, you need to be respectful and professional. The moment you act dignified, the situation will be under your control, preventing future drama.

5. Read under the lines. Try figuring out what this difficult person needs. Once you figure it out, you can either go far away from his hidden need or provide him with it!

6. Look out for help in the team. People around you can help you deal with people who are not in the right mind at all times. Little ways in which you can make this work is by getting a heads up when this person who you don’t like is walking towards your cabin.

7. Be solution-oriented. There’s something called solution- based conversing in psychology. You should apply this; it makes conversations precise and very productive. All you need to ask the person who is difficult to deal with is what his solution to the problem is.

8. Try not to smile. Some people misunderstand smiling during a serious conversation. Honestly, you don’t want to mess with such people, especially at work. However, you can lighten the mood by using humor but, beware of the possibilities that may arise!

9. Don’t get defensive. Be confident, instead. Defensiveness shows how scattered you are as a person. No matter how nasty a conversation gets, being defensive equals taking work discussions personally. This is not about you, keep that in mind at all times.

10. Anger should not be returned. There’s no point stooping down to a person’s level when he’s yelling or fighting with you. Adding fuel to a situation is never going to fix things or make you both producing members. Keep calm, use the right tone, especially in angry situations.

11. Accept that you can’t convince difficult people. Make peace with this fact. People, at the end of the day, believe in what they want to believe. You can always agree to disagree but, don’t indulge in conversations like this.

12. Maintain distance with such professionals. Unless you have any official work, don’t bother people who love attention in their crazy ways. You never know how they can interpret a simple ‘hello’ at work!

13. Accept fault. Never forget to be honest. If you’re ever at fault, don’t wait for the member to blame you. You say that you’re sorry and settle down the dispute in less than 5 minutes!

14. Be assertive. It’s good to say ‘No’ when you truly feel uncomfortable in a conversation. Being assertive is the key to being a great team leader, manager or the CEO of a company as well!

15. Appreciate yourself. I’m not asking you to be narcissistic but, remember to pat on your back each day. You need to be proud of yourself for dealing with different kinds of people at work without any disputes and delays too!

You may find these tips very unnatural to follow in reality. Be the change you want to see in reality. However, trust me, things will work out. Your brain will adapt to such solutions in barely any time.

Author Bio

Niall Kennedy is the Creative Director at ”Preferred training networks”. He has over 20 years of experience in Professional Development Industry. He has published 4 business books – “All Aboard the Brain Train,” “Healthy Leadership,” “Errant Workplace Behaviours,” and “Hidden Observations”.

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