Our workplace can create a variety of atmospheres. Sometimes we feel relaxed, other times we feel cheerful and still there are times when we feel tense, frustrated, and angry. The people we work with have a lot do with the way our workplace makes us feel. When we like our co-workers, not only do we enjoy our work more, we feel at ease. But we can’t be friends with everyone. So how do we cope with those people that irk us?
Kill with kindness
It’s hard to be nice towards people who send us negative vibes. When we are around people who rub us the wrong way, it puts us in a bad mood. We get pissed off and our initial reaction towards these people is to lash out at them and ask them what their problem is. While we might not roll in the same social circle were this to be high school, reality is it’s not high school. For the sake of keeping up a good reputation and remaining professional, the best way to handle this situation is to show kindness. As difficult as this is, displaying a smile will be a lot less regrettable than wearing an attitude.
Don’t take it personally
Whether we’re dealing with annoying customers or being assigned an overload of work, it can be easy for people to get stressed on the job. Sometimes this stress causes them to take it out on other people. When your co-workers are rude to you, especially for no logical reason, you can’t assume that it’s because they have something against you. They might just be in a bad mood that day. Rather than getting heated, ask them what’s bothering them. They might feel a lot better if someone is able to empathize with them. In turn, they’ll most likely act nicer towards you too
Turn it into a joke
This is going to contradict what I just said, but sometimes the people who are bothering us need a taste of their own medicine. If your co-worker makes a rude remark, just laugh it off or make a sarcastic comment back to them. If they say something like Why are you being such a loser? Take it lightly and reply with something like I was born that way. They won’t know what to say after that. And the more people that are around to see this, the better. Your co-workers will notice your sense of humour and that will up your likeness factor.
Avoid that person
Sometimes you just need to distance yourself from that person. The more you are able to avoid bumping into or making eye contact with your arch enemy, the less likely it is that you two will have a run-in. It might be awkward constantly trying to keep away from someone you work with. But this way, it will be easier to focus on your job and not think so much about strangling him or her. After all, you wouldn’t want to end up in an orange jumpsuit. It’s not your colour.
It’s never easy having to deal with people we don’t like. But sometimes “ like when we work with them “ we don’t really have a choice. You don’t have to like everyone you work with but at the end of the day, you’re still part of the same team so it’s best to keep things professional and not let your personal feelings get in the way of your performance.
