ALT-1 Difficult Colleagues
When a person has to see a colleague nearly every day of their life, and that person would not be considered easy to get along with, then there needs to be a way that they deal with that person. It doesn't make sense for someone to spend their entire life working with someone who they feel is difficult to get along with. Therefore, if people would exercise a few common sense tips, then they could deal with these kinds of people.
1. A person can buy gifts for a difficult colleague. This may not seem like the most obvious thing to do, but someone cannot hurt another by being nice to them. The gifts don't have to be anything expensive, but a small token, or even that colleague's favorite sandwich or drink would be appropriate. People are often difficult because they have things in their lives that nobody else knows about. Surely this is not a reason to react negatively to that person. The best thing to do is buy them small items occasionally to let them know they are not an enemy.
2. If someone works with a difficult colleague, they should do all they possibly can to help that person excel. This may also sound contrary to popular opinion and may not always be the easiest principle to practice, but it will help relationships work out in the future and could change this colleague's demeanor. People who are not always easy to deal with often find that when someone helps them, they feel less of a need to be difficult. Working with a difficult colleague is not easy, but if people try to help them excel, their attitude could change drastically.
3. When someone works with a difficult colleague, they should always brag about that individual to their boss. One of the mistakes everybody makes is if there is someone who works in the company, that is not easy to get along with, then people immediately want to shut them out. This is not the best solution because that person will never change their way of thinking. The best way to help someone is to find something good about that person and relay that on to management. This will help that person grow as opposed to alienating them.
Difficult colleagues often just need to find positive reinforcements from their co-workers.
