Annoying work colleagues What to do?

Annoying Coworkers - How To Easily Solve Problems In The Workplace

18/12/2014

Biting garlic smell or continuous sound from the radio are just two examples of how colleagues can clash in the office. When dealing with such problems among colleagues, conflict adviser Ursula Wawrzinek from Munich advises swift action. „It's not good to wait and eat the trouble in you until you burst“, so Wawrzinek opposite the dpa.

One should, however, remain friendly and not attack the colleague directly, but bring the colleague's own view of the problem. Unfriendly approach such as „Ey, dude, make the shit quieter“ lead in the rarest cases to a solution. It is better to say something nice „I can not work if you always listen to music so loud at work.“

In principle, every employee should also bear in mind that he can not prescribe anything to his colleagues because he is not the boss. It is also important to bring the problems straight to the point. To formulate the criticism by the flower, often lead to the fact that the colleagues do not perceive this as such. „At the same time, one has the feeling that the problem has been raised several times.“ And that only adds to the annoyance about the colleague's behavior.

Distant criticism is recommended
A hawked e-mail is not a proven means of conflict resolution, according to Wawrzinek. Although you can write the mail in an emotionally excited state, you should send them but rather only after one night slept on it. Because only then you have the necessary distance to recognize your own emotional outbursts and remove them from the mail. „Generally speaking, nobody should address a problem when it is just 180“, so Wawrzinek.

Even small things can lead to quarrels, e.g. when a colleague is constantly eating garlic bread sitting in front of the computer and the whole office stinks. In such cases, the conflict counselor recommends formulating the criticism as a request, e.g. to confine the food to the canteen. If the colleague agrees, one should thank.

The walk to the boss after Wawrzinek should be the last resort. Above all, you should bring your colleagues on board right from the start and not chalk them up to the boss without his knowledge: „Before we get into a fight, we should better involve the supervisor.“ On the other hand, criticism of the clothing style or appearance of a colleague should be completely avoided. „Only the boss is allowed to do this ... .“

Strife is stress and stress makes you sick
Quarrel is unhealthy. This also applies to the workplace. Not infrequently, it causes stress that leads to hypertension and gastric ulcers. This is now shown in a Danish study by Rikke Lund from the University of Copenhagen.

According to the researchers, in studies of 9875 men and women between the ages of 32 and 52 years, the mortality risk increased by two to three times in frequent quarrels. The health values ​​of the subjects deteriorated due to the increased stress (and the release of various hormones), the increased blood pressure such as e.g. the probability of cardiovascular disease among those affected increased by 50 to 100 percent.

However, the researchers concede that this is not automatic. Experts speak in this context “from a conspicuous correlation and not causality ... “ That is, the chance of dying earlier increases. „Whether it actually happens depends not least on your physical condition, your individual nerves and the regular balance (for example through sports and healthy nutrition).“ (Jp)