4 ways to bring out the best in people
You can be a person who brings out the best in anyone’s behavior. Here are four ways to do it.
Category: Difficult People
Strategies to manage complainers
Handling a complaint is a high-stakes situation, whether it’s from someone you support in the office or a customer. Please a person who is upset, and you develop an ally; botch it, and you never recover in that person’s eyes.
Admins’ most irritating co-workers
Everyone has an abrasive colleague that he or she just doesn’t know how to deal with. Here’s one example from the Admin Pro Forum.
Beg to differ without ruffling feathers
Smart administrative professionals choose when and how to express gentle, yet forceful, disagreement. Here are three strategies to disagree gracefully, along with situations when each tactic makes sense.
Should you let your peers’ mistakes slide to teach a lesson?
Is it helpful to let a co-worker screw up a project to teach her a lesson? And if you think not, how do you deal with a colleague who insists on letting others make mistakes to show them the folly of their ways? That’s what one reader recently asked on the Admin Pro Forum.
Subtle snubs sapping your morale?
When they happen regularly, disrespectful snubs—or “microinequities”—sap motivation and productivity, says leadership coach Brigid Moynahan of New Jersey-based The Next Level. The next time someone slings one at you, take these steps.
Take the sting out of rude behavior
When you’re stung by a co-worker’s rude remark, or worse, a bit of verbal abuse, the trick is to stay cool. Blowing up or storming out won’t help matters, and letting the remark slide only ensures that it will happen again.
Lessons from the office brown-noser
That person who’s always cozying up to the boss may drive you nuts, but you should consider that she may also be doing some things better, says life and career coach Dorothy Tannahill-Moran.
How to cope with difficult co-workers
It takes a variety of personalities and work styles to make up a successful workplace, but differences can cause misunderstandings and conflict on the job. To stay productive and professional, you have to learn to handle these differences. Rebecca Thorman, author of the “Kontrary” blog, has five strategies to help you do just that.
Are you a pain to work with?
Perhaps you’ve been doing things the same way for so long that you no longer have the ability to look at situations from a different viewpoint. To measure your flexibility, take this simple quiz.