Showing posts with label difficult. Show all posts
Showing posts with label difficult. Show all posts

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Tip Tuesday

10 Tips for Dealing With Difficult People at Work

Difficult coworkers. In every workplace, you will have difficult coworkers. Dealing with difficult coworkers, bosses, customers, clients, and friends is an art worth perfecting. Dealing with difficult situations at work is challenging, yet rewarding. You can increase your skill at dealing with the difficult people who surround you in your work world. These tips will help you in dealing with difficult people at work.
 
Difficult people do exist at work. Difficult people come in every variety and no workplace is without them. How difficult a person is for you to deal with depends on your self-esteem, your self-confidence and your professional courage. Dealing with difficult people is easier when the person is just generally obnoxious or when the behavior affects more than one person. Dealing with difficult people is much tougher when they are attacking you or undermining your professional contribution.
Think you work with a bully? Do you regularly feel intimidated, dread to work anywhere near a particular coworker, or you’re yelled at, insulted, and put down? Does a coworker talk over you at meetings, criticize your performance, or steal credit for your work? If you answer yes to these questions, chances are good that you’re one of 54 million Americans, who have been attacked by a bully at work. Learn about dealing with difficult people at work.
 
Some people exude negativity. They don’t like their jobs or they don’t like their company. Their bosses are always jerks and they are always treated unfairly. The company is always going down the tube and customers are worthless. You know these negative Neds and Nellies – every organization has some. Here are tips for dealing with difficult, negative coworkers.
 
Meaningful confrontation is never easy but conflict is often necessary if you want to stick up for your rights at work. Whether the confrontation is over shared credit, irritating coworker habits and approaches, or about how to keep a project on track, sometimes you need to hold a confrontation with a coworker. The good news is that while confrontation is almost never your first choice, you can become better and more comfortable with necessary conflict. Find out how dealing with difficult conflicts at work is easier and more positive with these steps.
 
You can submarine your job and career by the relationships you form at work. No matter your education, experience, or title, if you can't play well with others, you won't succeed. Effective relationships create success and satisfaction on the job. Learn more about seven effective work relationship musts. Combat dealing with difficult people with these work relationship musts.
 
Have you encountered any of these examples of dealing with difficult people at work? They're just samples of the types of behavior that cry out for responsible feedback. These steps will help you hold difficult conversations when people need professional feedback. Dealing with a difficult conversation can have positive outcomes.
 
Most people have pet peeves about their coworkers. And, why not? Even relatively sane and likeable people do things that can drive their coworkers to distraction. Vote in my poll about what coworker behavior drives you crazy. Share your tips for dealing with difficult coworkers. Or, share your coworker's behavior that lights your fuse.
 
Nothing is more destructive in the workplace than difficult bosses. Every employee has a series of bosses over their working career. Hopefully, most of your bosses are competent, kind, and even, worthy of your trust and respect. Unfortunately, too often, employees have difficult bosses who impact their desire to engage and contribute at work. Learn how dealing with difficult bosses is a skill you can develop.
You want to be well known and liked among the people the company regards as super stars, allies who have power and will speak up for you. (In fact, you can achieve job security if you are viewed as a super star.) Building alliances at work is smart, effective for developing positive coworker relationships, and crucial for dealing with difficult or destructive coworker behavior in the workplace.
 
Gossip is rampant in most workplaces. Sometimes, it seems as if people have nothing better to do than gossip about each other. They gossip about the company, their coworkers, and their managers. They frequently take a partial truth and turn it into a whole speculative truth. Dealing with difficult situations involving gossip occurs in every workplace. Find out how dealing with difficult gossip is a must-do and a can-do. Obliterate gossip from your work place.
 
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Monday, January 14, 2013

Making it Big Monday

Retail: How to deal with rude customers

We all know that customer: The one who talks on their phone incessantly while you try to serve them. They may smack their gum, or they may roll their eyes while purveying their distinct brand of ungraciousness. We know them better by their true name—The Rude Customer. Your first instinct might be to turn into a green rage monster, but before you go destroying everything within arm's reach, we have five tips for dealing with rude customers that might just help you out while working in retail.

Stay calm
“The first thing that I would tell someone to do is stay calm,” says Jason Nedelkos, a barista at Starbucks Coffee. “I’ve learned to keep a respectful tone if somebody has an issue. If someone is rude or shouting at you, there’s no need to sink to their level.” An added benefit of this strategy is that it might force the customer to tone down their unreasonableness. “It’s hard to be rude to someone who is being calm and collected,” Nedelkos shrugs.

“Kill them with kindness”
Sarah Erwin, a cashier at Shoppers Drug Mart, has similar advice. “For me, what works best is to kill them with kindness, so to speak.” Erwin graduated from University of Toronto and has been working at Shoppers Drug Mart for the past year while job hunting. “Never stop being overly polite. The meaner they get, the nicer you get in response.” This technique always feels like a personal win, and you still get to be as great at your job as ever.

Put the power in their hands (and get them off your back)
“As a barista, the small complaints I usually get are about mixed up drink orders, which are pretty easy to resolve.” Nedelkos explains. “The really rude people are upset about things that I can’t fix. Like why we don’t have cups in a certain colour or something.” Erwin agrees that most of her angry customers are upset with things she has no control over. “The two things that cause customers to yell at me are long lines and prices.” Nedelkos offers a solution to this situation. “I usually explain to them that I personally can’t change this, but I invite them to fill out a comment form or talk to a superior and say ‘They will listen to you over me’.” Not only does this get them out of your hair, but puts the power in their hands to resolve their own problem.

Maintain a neutral tone of voice and body language
As rude as the customer is being, you represent the entire store and organization. So as rude as they are, any hint of snideness or confrontation on your part will exacerbate the situation. “A rude customer feels threatened already, you make one false move and they will get madder,” Nedelkos laughs. Really, just stay calm, be as kind as you can, apologize profusely and keep a neutral tone of voice. You should make it through in one piece.

Don’t take things personally!
We know, easier said than done! But having a rude customer can really ruin your day, and make you feel bad long after you’ve left work. Instead, choose to remember the good times at work when you are decompressing after a long shift. “Rude customers are rude customers,” Nedelkos remarks. “But if you choose to remember the person who left you a great tip, or the one who was really nice, you’ll have a much better outlook.”

To view the original article CLICK HERE