Make no bones about it -- working with a difficult employee can be a nightmare. And while conflict between two people with different working styles and opposing personalities is not a surprise, it still requires resolution. Failure to address problems that arise can have a severe impact on the work environment, particularly from a morale standpoint where the rest of a group or team is involved.
It is not always easy to address and resolve conflict with a difficult employee as it can involve direct conflict or confrontation with that person. But, like all problems both in and out of the workplace – ignore it and risk it getting worse.
Whether you manage a difficult employee, your co-worker is impossible, or you’re the one that others find hard to get along with, this article will provide you with tips to navigate your working relationships to make sure the impact on morale is minimized, and so that productivity remains maximized.
Managing a Difficult Direct Report
It is a manager’s responsibility to be aware of internal conflicts in the workplace – particularly if they are impacting mood and productivity. And while many conflicts are able to get resolved without a manager’s intervention, in many cases the assistance of a manager is required. Here are some tips for jumping in to resolve resolution as the manager of a difficult employee:
Empower your employees. Encourage them to solve problems between themselves before coming to you for help, and be open to the fact that there are times when only you can facilitate a peaceful discussion and hopefully a resolution.
Coach and communicate. It is only through providing continuous performance feedback and listening to your employees that you as a manager will be in a position to identify problems that in some instances even the difficult employee is in the dark about. Whether you relay your feedback as factual (observations of the behavior and its consequences) or emotional (people’s reactions to the employee's behavior), it should always be presented in a non-confrontational manner to maximize the chances of the employee being receptive to it.
Offer a second chance. Employees should have the opportunity to modify their behavior or ask for assistance with a problem. With luck and some perseverance they will be able to resolve the behavior or problem. If not – as a manager you must direct the difficult employee to make changes or employ disciplinary consequences. Should this become the case, it will be time to involve a human resource expert.
Managing a Difficult Coworker
Everyone at one point or another has felt the anger and stress that comes along with working with a difficult coworker. The steps below, however, can help you manage your encounters with them so they don’t drain both your energy and morale.
Recognize Limitations. While you can’t change your coworker or their behavior, you CAN change the way you react to them by asking yourself the following three questions:
- Is this person worth getting upset over?
- Is this person's behavior really destructive?
- Does this behavior affect me, or am I just letting it affect me?
You may be pleasantly surprised to find that a simple change in your perception based on the answers to the above questions will help minimize your anger and frustration when it comes to the things that annoy you about your difficult co-worker.
Confront with Neutrality. When a discussion is in order to discuss and resolve a problem, approaching the person in a non-confrontational way is your best chance for success. The five-step DUIRR technique can help you confront your difficult co-worker in a positive way to maximize your chances for an improved and productive working relationship, according to Nancy Aldrich, Superintendent of Human Resources with the Arlington Heights Park District in Illinois.
Step 1: Determine. Are you really involved or did you put yourself in the middle? You might discover that what you find annoying is not directed at you, in which case you can change your reaction and move on.
Step 2: Understand. Try to understand where the person is coming from. Empathy and understanding can work wonders in changing the attitudes and behaviors of all parties involved.
Step 3: Influence. Explain how his behavior has affected you in a non-confrontational manner using "I-You" statements ("I can’t meet my deadline when you don’t answer my e-mails." I-You statements avoid blame and direct the focus on future reoccurrence.
Step 4: Resolve. Discuss the problem’s cause and effect and identify steps to resolve it.
Step 5: Recover. Once the problem is resolved, let it go and move on.
Managing Yourself When YOU are the Difficult Employee
It is hard to look in the mirror and accept that YOU are the one that tends to have the conflicts with others. Accepting that you are the difficult one is tough, since we can’t help but think we are always in the right. But if after self-reflection you come to realize you are in constant conflict with a variety of people whom you find disagreeable, and that you are in fact the one with the “difficult” label, here are some tips for getting along with others:
Reflect on Your Role. Take a moment to collect your thoughts and look back on how you may have contributed to some of the problems with your various working relationships. Were you brusque in your demeanor? Were you inflexible? Were you too demanding? Only you know the answers to these questions.
Re-adjust. Reconsider and shift your attitude or make a tweak in whatever it was that you believe may have aggravated your situation (your demeanor).
Communicate. Give those you have had problems with feedback on how the situation affects you or others, and discuss with them steps you have taken to rectify things on your end.
Turning Hopeless into Hopeful
The suggestions discussed above show that dealing with difficult people on the job isn’t always hopeless. In fact, these tips can offer workplace hope by helping difficult employees adopt more acceptable behaviors or ultimately leave the company.
While there is no one easy or perfect solution to working with or managing difficult employees, the most important thing to remember is that ignoring the situation never works in the long term.
Through empowered use of proper non-confrontational communication and feedback between co-workers and managers, problems can be approached proactively. The potential results are worth striving for -- a workplace with sustained momentum, increased productivity and high morale.
I hope you all will get some help by this article........
Awaiting for valuable comments...........
