4 ways to deal with shitty colleagues while working remotely
1. Give your colleague the benefit of the doubt
When you don’t like someone, it’s easy to speculate on their motives, but trying to be positive about their actions will actually help you feel better about the situation.
It’s important to remember that 2020 has been challenging for most of us. Indeed, emotions are already strained, so try and be as kind as you can (or at least just bite your tongue for now).
2. Be sensible
Who hasn’t bad-mouthed a colleague? It’s so easy to do, right?
“Talking and moaning about other people at work might seem normal and sometimes fun, but be wary that it can hurt your reputation and chances at work,” Nadin says.
To avoid this, try and keep your feelings to yourself unless you really need to talk to someone — and if you do, confide in your friends outside of work.
Think about how what you say often says more about you than the actual person you’re discussing.
3. Own your headspace
Nadin says that so much of life is how we feel about it and how we react to it.
It can be so hard to control our reactions and emotions, but it’s not impossible.
“It’s your life — so don’t let people live rent-free in your head,” Nadin adds.
Don’t let negative emotions seep into your own headspace. If you do, you’ll only end up feeling even more unhappy.
4. Pick yourbattleswith colleagues
Like in every relationship, you need to pick your battles and really think about what’s worth the argument.
“When you work with people, there’ll be lots of small things to argue about, so make sure you only bring up the things that are worth it,” Nadin says.
I mean, do you really want to have a fight about every single unfortunate comment? It’s exhausting — and let’s face it, you could save your energy for things that actually matter.
The truth is that you’ll come across people you don’t like or click with wherever you may go. It’s inevitable — so the trick is to learn to manage these feelings or emotions and more importantly to not let this affect your behaviour and quality of work.
Just remember:
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