Stop running from your problems!!! Job change is not a solution to deal with your difficult coworkers. You deserve a calm and peaceful mind in your workplace. But there is a high chance that you have to interact with some toxic personalities. So, like a cool employee, you must beat your problematic work environment with some cool hacks.
In this article, you will get some awesome hacks that will help you beat the negative impact on your mental peace. Stay tuned till the end of this blog.
Why It’s Important To Navigate Coworker Relationships
It’s not just a “9 to 5 job.” When you dig a bit, you will find that we spend more than eight to 12 hours at our workplace. That’s why the atmosphere can greatly impact our emotional and mental health.
Negative impacts due to toxic colleagues can impact our quality of life and work. When you don’t find your workplace healthy and happy, you will start feeling isolated and depressed. Also, if your relationship with your coworker is terrible, it can lead to sleepless nights, anxiety, and low self-esteem.
What To Do About A Toxic Coworker
It depends on your attitude and how you treat a toxic coworker at your workplace. Fire can’t burn without fuel, so if you refuse to be a part of something toxic, you can starve the fire.
If your personality doesn’t match with any of the toxic coworkers, don’t allow them to mess with you. Remember, straight trees are cut first.
Check out these following tips and manage your interactions with a toxic coworker.
1. Create Physical Distance
If you feel a strange vibe or negative aura from your coworkers, try to distance yourself from that person. Rework your office layout, change your desk face to a different direction, or try to relocate to any other corner of the room. Social distancing always works.
2. Avoid, If You Can
When you are uncomfortable with the surrounding environment, avoid the conversation or leave the spot. It’s not cool to digest all criticism, cynicism, and gossip if you are uncomfortable with it. Protect yourself by insulating or refusing to participate in the conversation.
It’s easy to leave rather than get stuck in.
3. Set Your Conversational Boundaries
Suppose you are not comfortable with any of the conversations with your coworker. Give them a hint about it. Despite that, if your coworker doesn’t understand, it’s time to say so. Speak out and let them know that this is not a comfortable conversation for you and not a topic you want to discuss. Just remove yourself from that situation and leave that place with dignity.
4. Take Care Of Yourself
Never mix your professional and personal life. Whatever work pressure, deadline, tension, or anxiety you face during office hours, keep that there before returning home. If you work from home, follow the same trick as much as possible. When you shut down your system, switch off your official brain to enjoy quality time with your family.
Self-care is highly recommended because it will help you to stay healthy mentally and physically. The more you feel good, the more you can manage your workplace.
5. Stay True To Yourself And Your Values
See, some people are always there to provoke you with toxic words. So, whether you want to respond or ignore it is up to you. Focus on your goal; what do you want for yourself? Figure that out first and create a safe place to be happy with your workplace and perform your tasks.
When To Involve Your Supervisor Or HR
You tried everything, but still nothing improved. Your toxic coworker continues to bully or gossip (or both)! And you now get rid of it anyhow. So, what to do?
Document Everything
If this issue is still going on, then you must visit your HR. Explain your problems with the authority, and share the track of your interactions with your colleagues. Especially when you are facing difficulties like sexual harassment and microaggressions. Pen down everything in a document with the time, date, and some quick bullet points of what happened to you.
Ask A Colleague For Guidance
When you are confused about the solution, tap a trusted colleague or senior friend to guide you. While sharing your issues with friends and colleagues, you will get some guts to sort out and escalate your concerns.
Follow The Chain Of Command
If you decide to talk to your high authority, follow your company’s prescribed path for doing so. Starting with your boss or HR, speak up for yourself.
Speak About The Incident, Not About the Person
See, blaming is not a solution. You need to explain the incidents to your boss to fix the issues from the root. So, if you are mentally upset and down, try to keep yourself calm and share the facts with your authority instead of blaming someone.
When It’s Time To Consider Another Job
When you have done everything, the situation is still uncomfortable for you. Then it’s better to switch the current job. You must pay your bills, but that doesn’t mean it will harm your mental health.
Time to explore your job options. Or you can ask for a transfer to a different location.
NOTE: Searching for a new job isn’t always an effective immediate way. But when prioritizing yourself, you need some clarity on what you want to do about your job.
Note For The Employers
As per statistics, it is proven that toxic coworkers cost companies more than any other harmful event. It not only slows down the high performance in the workplace but also disturbs the employees and their productivity.
So, employers have to look into this matter and take a holistic approach to hiring. While hiring, select the candidates with the right experience, skills, and passion for the job so that they give all their energy to production.
It’s highly recommended to pick the right candidate who might create a positive atmosphere and culture that enhances productivity. One negative personality can drag everyone down and destroy the office culture like a slow poison.
