#415: Today's "Pop-Up" Mini-Course Is on "Recognising Difficult People at Work"

Introduction

In today's "People Skills" newsletter, we're looking at another one of our "pop-up" presentations where we give you a micro-course on a key workplace soft skill. Today, it's on "Dealing With Difficult People at Work".

Although problem behaviour in the workplace is one of the major factors in poor performance, it is often not recognised as such by managers and others. This is because problem behaviour in itself may not be against the rules of the organisation or criminal laws. It is invariably a personal issue of the person themselves and thus can be difficult for managers to address.

In this presentation, we'll define what problem behaviour is and look at eight stereotypes of people who can be disruptive at work and what you can do about it.

01. The Downer

Downers are people who like to focus on the negative in every situation. When it's a sunny day, downers will say, "We'll pay for this!". When a new person joins the team, downers will whisper, “We'll have to train her and she'll get all the credit"...

02. Question 01

Think of an example of someone that you have worked with who you would say had “problem behaviour”. Describe why you thought this. What problems did the behaviour cause? What, if anything, was done about it?...

03. The Sniper Bully

Sniper Bullies work to sabotage and undermine people. They play on people's weaknesses and insecurities. They make snide jokes and spread rumour and gossip and they use divide-and-rule tactics...

04. Question 02

Describe examples of bullying behaviour that you know of or experienced personally. Why did it happen? How was it handled by the recipients? And managers? Did you agree with how it was handled? If not, what would you have done instead?...

05. The Shirker

Shirkers avoid taking responsibility for tasks or people. They often go absent at crucial times. They try to put things off until somebody else does it for them and are inflexible and unwilling to do more than the bare minimum...

06. Question 03

Imagine that you have a new staff member who is reluctant to take on their fair share of the work. Others in the team have complained about her. What steps would you take to deal with it?...

07. The Complainer

Complainers are people who can destroy the morale of a workplace by continuously finding fault with others and being critical of actions and decisions of others...

08. Question 04

Describe someone you know who displays “problem behaviour”, such as a persistent complainer. How might you tell this person that you understand where they are coming from? Do the same for any other person with problem behaviour, such as a bully or control freak.

09. The Steamroller

Just like the big machines that destroy everything in their path, steamrollers can be ruthless personality types. They are pushy people who go to great lengths to get what they want or prove that they are right...

10. Question 05

Imagine that you have someone in your team who is a “steamroller” type who loves conflict. You know that, in any meeting, they will use powerful arguments against you. What would your strategy and tactics be?...

11. The Control Freak

People who have a high need for control can often be over-extreme, giving rise to the notion that these individuals are abnormal or "freaks." They are often obsessive-compulsive, angry, (either overt or passive-aggressive), phobic, or even mood-disordered...

12. Question 06

Imagine that you have recently taken charge of a team on which there is a person displaying “control freak” behaviour. Her appraisal is coming up. How might you raise the issue of their behaviour and what would you say to get them to consider alternatives?

13. The Pleaser

Pleasers are people who like to feel good with others and their chief way of doing this is to agree to any request from them. The consequence of this for the other person is that when you think you've got commitment from the Pleaser, there's a strong chance that you haven't...

14. Question 07

Describe people you have met in your life who were “people pleasers”. What were the pluses in their behaviour? What were the minuses? How would you have dealt with them if you had been responsible for them at work?

15. The Narcissist

The Narcissist displays one of the most toxic problem behaviours at work. They have little or no empathy for others and so can behave in outrageous ways because they don't care what others think of them...

16. Question 08

Imagine that you are holding a performance review with someone who has narcissistic behaviour symptoms. How might you downplay their narcissistic behaviour and support their team-spirited behaviour?

What's Next?

If you have found this article useful, you now have a great resource to add to your e-learning store.

And, with this as your starting point, you can now take things further.

With over 22,000 learning resources on our 6 websites, with 2 sites offering free downloads, you can now take charge of your own learning and create your own learning pathways to success.

Simply commit yourself to a daily snippet of learning and then practise it, reflect upon it, apply it, and review it, and in no time at all, you will have mastered the skill with confidence.

Thanks for reading this edition of the "People Skills" newsletter and good luck with your ongoing learning.

Oh, and one last thing.

In the spirit of making the world a freer, happier and more enlightened place...

...please pass this newsletter on.

Thankyou!

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