How to Deal With Your Annoying Co-Worker

Hell is other people. Or the person in the next cubicle who talks so LOUDLY on the phone!

One of the most common issues for employees around the world is dealing with office politics. At some point in their career, most people find themselves spending more time and energy working the system in their office than working at their job. Every office has one, the annoying co-worker who can get under your skin and adversely effect the atmosphere of an office. These problems in an office are not only stressful but they are costly. For those who get to work from home occasionally or from a different site report getting twice as much work done with half the stress when they are away from their usual environment. But what if you can't escape the office?

There are a few jobs that are totally self-sufficient and allow complete autonomy and responsibility. Most people need to be able to work as a team player. The majority of workers want to do their best and feel they are making a valuable contribution when they are at work so if other people are getting in your way and preventing you from achieving this, each day can be very frustrating.

Even the most efficient businesses and people can have periods where office politics take their toll. Here are 4 examples of how we work with our clients to minimise the possible impact of tension between people.

1. Get Active
If people are regularly frustrated at work their stress levels will rise. Feeling stressed releases adrenalin into the system and if this happens repeatedly, they run the risk of high blood pressure and heart disease. Employees who have the opportunity to regularly take walk breaks, attend lunchtime exercise sessions, or head to gym after work are able to use the adrenalin in their system to fuel their activity which prevents their stress levels building over time and helps them maintain their calm in awkward situations.

2. Eat Right
What you eat really does impact on how you cope with stress inducing people. Too much caffeine and sugary snacks create energy peaks and troughs and low energy troughs can make it difficult to deal with other people. If you’re feeling tired and sluggish in the office, it’s because your blood sugar is low. If someone does something to upset you at this point, chances are it may tip you over the edge. To stabilise energy levels, limit caffeine to two drinks per day and snack on nuts, seeds, dried fruit or chopped vegetables. You will be able to cope with so much more if you're in control rather than wired.

3. Breathe
Learning to master your mind and manage your mental state is a valuable workplace skill. You need to be able to stay focused and effective no matter what’s going on around you. Workers who have access to techniques such as yoga and meditation have consistently lower levels of stress and better coping strategies than those around them. Have you ever noticed how some of your colleagues just let annoying things in the office wash over them? They very likely have their own coping mechanism - it's time you got yours.

4. Get Busy
If work is all you do with your life, then when things aren’t going your way in the office, you’ll feel that your whole life is out of control. Make sure you have plenty of things on your schedule that aren’t work related. If work is just one part of a varied lifestyle, you’ll be better positioned to deal with office based challenges. Make time for family and friends, hobbies, gym going, quiet time and have plenty of things in your weekly schedule that you really enjoy.

Take a look around your workplace and look at the fittest, healthiest person you know. Chances are they’ll be taking these measures and as a result they’ll have fewer bad days at the office than anyone else.

Stress is caused by feeling out of control but with tried and tested plans for exercising, eating well, managing your mind and living a varied lifestyle you will always feel in control of your situation and will be able to deal with anyone no matter how awkward and frustrating their character or personality.



Photograph by passiveaggressivenotes (Flickr)