DEALING WITH A TOXIC COLLEAGUE- 5 PRACTICAL TIPS
posted on Jun 21, 2021 | 685 likes
If you have a toxic colleague in your team, here are 5 practical tips for handling them to ensure that you remain productive and efficient.
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According to the popular leadership author John C. Maxwell, "Teamwork makes the dream work, but a vision becomes a nightmare when the leader has a big dream and a bad team". Strategy and execution rely on teamwork to succeed.
However, one toxic, energy-draining, and non-compliant team member, can sabotage the teams' success.
It is impossible not to have come across a toxic colleague. No matter the organization, they are bound to be there.
They are toxic because they are like flesh-eating worms, burying themselves into your skin and derailing you and the organization from attaining the established goal.
Besides that, they also cause a psychological breakdown to people around them and sometimes have no idea the harm their destructive behavior has caused.
Like toxic wastes, toxic colleagues should be handled with care. Whether it's the chronic gossip, the complainer, the finger-pointer, the uncooperative colleague, the information hoarder, or the credit thief, people should not be exposed to them (toxic colleagues) for a long period.
At Page Financials, we ensure that our workspace inspires mutual respect and cooperation on a daily basis. This way, employees can remain productive and committed to the company’s success as well as their individual success.
If you have a toxic colleague in your team, here are 5 practical tips for handling them to ensure that you remain productive and efficient.
1. Have a conversation with them
Sometimes these people are unaware of how their actions affect you. Do not just assume they would change their ways. Engage them in a semi-formal dialogue, encouraging feedback of your attitude and also explain how theirs affect you.
2. Stay focused.
You cannot afford to lose all you have accomplished to a tantrum. Hold your head high and keep your eyes focused on the established goal. If possible, turn a blind eye to their attitudes, comments, or body language.
Get your workspace organized and when you take breaks, find something that distracts you from focusing on them.
Do you want to know more about staying focused? Read- 4 Proven Ways To Increase Your Focus At Work.
3. Establish your boundaries.
People pleasers find it difficult to sufficiently establish boundaries at work because they want to be loved by all. If you come off as timid, others would decide your rights. Communicate clearly and honestly and accept you cannot please everybody. “All stress, anxiety, and depression is caused when we ignore who we are and start living to please others” by Paul Coelho.
4. Ignore them.
Toxic people are fault finders. They have no issue with embarrassing you publicly, to appear as the hero.
To handle this, turn deaf ears to their comments. Channel your energy towards improving your knowledge on the job daily.
When in doubt of the proper thing to do, seek help from your superior or someone in the management team.
You may also like: 5 Stress Management Techniques To Get You Back On Track
5. Speak to your boss or HR.
Schedule a meeting with your boss or HRM to discuss the issue. Keeping your feelings bottled up can hinder productivity.
Before you approach your boss, identify what the issue is and plan on ways to communicate clearly. Identify specific times you’ve felt the employee has affected your job.
Remember, this is not an opportunity to throw your colleague under the bus. It is an opportunity to amicably resolve the underlying problem.
Bottom line
We all have toxic habits whether we are aware of them or not. These behaviors can hinder productivity and put a strain on relationships.
One way to forge ahead is self-awareness and making efforts at rebuilding relationships. No matter how long this takes, it eventually creates a better work environment.
Have you ever had a toxic colleague? How did you handle them? Please share with us.
If you have any questions regarding our quick loans, competitive investment offering, or using our payment solution to enjoy zero charges on transfers and bill payments, visit our website at https://pagefinancials.com or call 01-700PAGE (7143) or send an email to customer@pagefinancials.com to speak with us.
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