How to deal with a negative, backbitting coworker

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how to deal with a person who's always in a negative mood and always thinks that he/she is the only one doing work.

-- Aman Sandhu (asandhu@omers.com), January 08, 2001

Answers

Aman, there could be a variety of root causes for this persons behavior and so it is best not to play psychologist. Instead consider who is responsible for changing their behavior and let those responsible deal with the situation. If that behavior is affecting you personally, then consider why you have allowed or given power to this person to affect your life. Maybe this is somebody you cannot change and therefore you have to ask yourself if it really is worth hitting your head on the same brick wall. Sometimes it might be mental illness, sometimes it is bad chemistry between people and sometimes it just plain old personality and a character trait that you either have to accept or keep fruitlessly rejecting.

Confronting this person directly will probably not improve things, if this person is breaking company rules then you have the option to submit a complaint, but maybe the best recourse is to first try to see it from their point of view. If they they think they are doing all the work test the assertion - tell others the same thing that person is saying and gauge their reactions. In every organization we as human being coalesce around one individual who raises our gander. Try not to follow the crowd, because the crowd can become a lynch mob. Enter this persons world from their side of the fence and if it does not serve to improve your understanding of this person, find some distance and remember that not everything in the world of work has to operate fine or is in your remit.

M.

M Profile at: http://www.fastcompany.com/fasttalk/replypost.html? p=9738

"To be or not to be that is the question" A quote by Willy Shakes.

-- Mark Zorro (zorromark@consultant.com), January 09, 2001.


You might find the following resources useful:

The Truth Is, the Truth Hurts http://www.fastcompany.com/online/14/one.html

Here's a Radical Idea: Tell the Truth! http://www.fastcompany.com/online/10/truth.html

The New Face of Office Politics http://www.fastcompany.com/online/28/newface.html

The Good Guy's (and Gal's) Guide to Office Politics http://www.fastcompany.com/online/14/politics.html

The Bad Guy's (and Gal's Guide to Office Politics http://www.fastcompany.com/online/14/badguy.html

Escape from the Red Zone http://www.fastcompany.com/online/08/naylor.html

Heath

-- Heath Row (heath@fastcompany.com), January 09, 2001.


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