Working with difficult coworkers

Have you ever worked with a difficult co-worker? Someone probably comes to mind immediately. Perhaps they were demanding, inconsiderate or just downright unpleasant. There's a good chance they made it harder for you to do a great job. In my experience, difficult workplace relationships don't have to be that way. This video will explore ways you can get to the root cause of workplace friction and create strategies to strengthen your relationship with difficult internal customers. Let's look in on Janice, an office manager, who is having some trouble with Dave from IT. Janice, Why aren't there any desks set up for Alicia's new employees? Alicia should have told you I need to configure their workstations today. This is the first time I'm hearing about it. Co-workers like Dave can be tough to work with. He's upset and it seems like he's unfairly directing frustration at Janice for something she didn't know about. You can often find ways to create better relationships with people like Dave if you can appreciate their perspective. Look, I'm in a hurry. My boss has been all over me all week about an issue with our accounting system migration. Now I get blindsided by Alicia when she says she needs me to configure computers and phones for three new employees who start next week. The little heads up would have been nice. Meanwhile, our department is still short staffed and spending all day just barely keeping up. Can you imagine why Dave may have been a little abrupt with Janice? He's feeling a lot of pressure to get things done and probably doesn't feel appreciated right now. While it's not fair for him to take it out on Janice, she can probably work more effectively with Dave if she's able to empathize with what he's feeling. Here are some reasons why people like Dave might be a challenge. They could be under pressure like Dave. People tend to have a short fuse when they're feeling pressure. The other person might have different objectives that seem to create a conflict. For example, Dave might need Janice's help to get those workstations set up while Janice has another high priority project from her boss. Some people just have difficult personalities and it takes time to form a solid working relationship. My best advice is to make the first move to build a relationship with difficult co-workers. Now, I'll admit there are some people you might always struggle with. You can't have a great relationship with every single person. That said, most difficult co-workers are like Dave. You can win them over if you take time to empathize with them and position yourself as someone who's there to help. You can practice by thinking of a difficult co-worker that you've recently encountered. Reach out to that person to create a positive relationship. Ask them about their goals and try to learn about any challenges that are preventing them from doing their job. It may take some time, but you can eventually create a more positive working relationship with many difficult co-workers.