How to Deal with Annoying Co-Workers
G. W. Goodrum, Jr.
How to
Deal with Annoying Coworkers
In this paper I provide my thoughts
on the following article, “How to Deal With Annoying Co-Workers, by Allison Green. I will share a time when I’ve encountered one
of the six types of people described in the article: The interrupter, the
know-it-all, the slacker, the grump, the speakerphone lover or the
blabbermouth. In this paper I will
describe a particular situation and how I dealt with the individual. Finally, I will address using some of the
advice given by the author of the article, and what I can do the next time I
encounter a person of this type.
In the article, “How to Deal with
Annoying Co-workers”, the author Allison Green (2011) described six common
types of annoying co-workers and provided solutions on how to deal with
them. The author actually uses satire to
validate her points. The article was
insightful and identified several people that we have known over the years. The solutions in the article are quite
indicative of how to deal with annoying co-workers that we have come in contact
with.
The challenge for this assignment was to
choose on individual, one scenario and one possible solution for dealing with
annoying co-workers. Most of my past and
present coworkers fit into the know-it-all and the blabber mouth
categories. The know-it-all has an
opinion on everything and loves to tell you how to do your job better and the
blabbermouth who goes on and on and on, (Green, 2011).
While living and working in Thule,
Greenland, there aren’t a lot off base activities that you can participate in,
especially during the winter when the sun doesn’t shine. For three straight months there is no
sunlight and the darkness rules for 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. To combat the darkness Thule residents normally
gather at the club or bowling alley for adult drinks and beverages. These are considered the good times at
Thule. Then there are the occasions when
living in close proximity of the same people that you work with on a daily
basis can test your fortitude.
During normal duty hours tempers have
a tendency of being short and situations can potentially escalate and spiral
out of control. This is when the
know-it-all person seems to be at their worst.
One of my coworkers was progressing in his training, but decided to have
a conversation with the Site Manager that he could improve training numbers and
have others trained faster by using his methods. After he and the Site Manager finished
talking, he called me into his office and informed me that we were going to
adopt his method on a trial basis and see where it goes.
My coworker knew the manager was new
and he wanted to make a first impression on his. Before I could inform the site manager with
my concerns, he forwarded an email to his boss and without mentioning my displeasure
in listening to this person. This
particular know-it-all coworker had been on the job for about four months and
wanted to change the training procedures from day one. His plan was to negate reading the training
material and go directly into tracking satellites.
Within the first couple of days of
implementing his training strategy, he received a reprimand for not adhering to
established satellite support procedures.
If my coworker had he been trained the correct way, he would have
avoided this critical error. The
solutions that Green (2011) proposed for the know it all, was an opportunity to
let it roll of my back. Scivicque (2012)
provides more alternative solutions when dealing with annoying coworkers. A greater emphasis is placed on you as an
individual and not the annoying coworker.
Her advice consisted of having you look inward at yourself, appreciating
diversity and looking for the something positive from your coworker.
When dealing with coworkers in an
organization, managers have to consider the individuals background, gender, and
age when formulating solutions for annoying coworkers. Considering the advice from the authors and
relational communication skills made a lot of sense. Look inward, look for the positive, let it
roll off your back, and be happy they aren’t in my family. In the future when I encounter a know-it-all,
I will use the advice given by both Green and Scivicque on how to deal with
annoying coworkers. Scivicque (2012)
stated, “Annoying or not, you still have to work with these people.” In short, creating an atmosphere of inclusion
will establish the bond necessary for relational partners to interconnect.
In this paper I have provided my
thoughts on the article, “How to Deal with Annoying Co-Workers, by Allison
Green. I’ve shared a specific occasion
when I encountered one of the six types of people described in the article: The
know-it-all. I described a particular
situation and how I dealt with the individual.
Finally, I addressed using some of the advice given by the authors, and
what I can do the next time I encounter this type of person.
References
Green,
A. (2011). How to Deal With Annoying Co-Workers? Retrieved from
Scivicque,
C. (2012). How to Deal With Annoying Coworkers? Retrieved from
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