Problems with co-workers

Patrick Erwin
Being part of a team can be a great learning experience when collaboration and discussion lead to new ideas and career growth. But for some employees interactions with co-workers range from merely irritating to being a complete nightmare. Do any of these sound familiar?The scented worker“I worked with a guy that smelled like dirty, wet rags. That was pretty annoying,” recalls Christine Lam, an entrepreneur based in Washington State. The issue impacted Lam’s productivity. Back away from the cellphones!Many of us are irked by our fellow employees spending away too much time on personal phone calls or texting friends and family. And perhaps no device is more visible at work than the cellphones. “I had a co-worker who was on his Black Berry so much he would have mastered blind-typing on it,” shares Andrew Chris, an employee at an online retailer. Unfortunately, the BlackBerry-addicted team member could not type, text and talk at the same time. “Talking to him while he is busy typing was comparable to talking to a container of glue.”Too much face time on Facebook Krista, a consultant in Colorado, found that the allure of the Internet severely curtailed her co-worker’s ability to get anything done. Krista’s ‘no-worker’ was particularly addicted to social networking sites. “She would spend the majority of the day on her MySpace and Facebook pages, which she took great pains to maintain,” she notes. In terms of actual work, Krista’s teammate wasn’t too productive. “I would say she worked approximately two hours a day and most of it had to be corrected or redone.” The bad behaviour listThose may have been some extreme examples, but co-workers can annoy others and make others hate them for a number of reasons. If they are not singing, co-workers are chewing, slurping, sniffling, coughing or belching in a way that is impossible for others to ignore. What are the most common reasons a fellow worker might be annoying? There are many ways: He or she is a ‘Debby Downer,’ or has a consistently negative attitude at work. They are incredibly nosy or prone to gossip. They bring aromatic food to their desks for lunch. They use their cubicles as a space to take care of personal hygiene. Everyone loves a fellow worker who clips his nails at his desk, right? They leave common areas a mess, and do not clean up after themselves. Resolving conflictApril Callis, a Michigan-based trainer and facilitator, suggests several strategies to solve conflicts with irritating co-workers before they become major issues.Ask for a resolution“Greet each complaint or problem with the request for a solution,” Callis suggests. She believes this approach is less likely to put the co-worker on the defensive, but instead makes him part of the solution.Just the facts, ma’am Another strategy Callis likes is the ‘Dragnet strategy.’ “When gossip, a complaint or negative information is brought forward, play Joe Friday and document the facts.” Callis says that this approach defuses any potential sparks for greater conflict. “This will take the emotion out of the picture.”Use humourAny legitimate complaint about a co-worker should be taken seriously. But, minor conflict can often be resolved by using tactful humour so that the parties involved dial the intensity down a notch. Be tactfulWorkers should also remember that as irritating as some of these behaviours might be, there might be other factors that are catalysts to making them happen. Excessive time on personal phone calls may be a sign of a personal crisis, while hygiene issues might arise from a medical problem. Co-workers and managers should be fair, caring and empathetic when bringing up any issues with co-workers. They may not be aware that their actions are having an impact. “I used to work at a company where a managing director was famous for spotting two people having a conflict and taking them to a conference room and introducing them as if they had never met or talked,” recalls David Dalka, a Chicago-based consultant who specialises in social media change management, business development and Web marketing strategy. Dalka believes it was an effective strategy. “That was the whole point — to encourage people to talk about little things before they became big things,” he says. “The culture was one that encouraged people to reconcile with one another on their own.”