Workplace personalities and how to deal with them

1. Workplace
Personalities and How
to Deal with Them

2. Many of us spend countless hours at work daily and for the
majority of full-time workers more time may be spent at work
than in any other context outside of one's home. Indeed, for
some of us we may find ourselves spending more time with
our coworkers and colleagues than with our family and
friends. That said, dealing with difficult personalities in the
workplace can really take a toll on one's health and well-
being, as well as on the entire company or organization.
If you've ever dealt with a particularly difficult coworker, you
may have found yourself avoiding that person at work,
perhaps changing your schedule or taking a different route in
and out of your building. You may have even found yourself
fantasizing about their departure or considering your own just
to get away from him or her. In the following picture,
Holloway and Kusy (2009) use humor to illustrate the joy of
having a difficult employee leave a company. Although you
may be able to find some humor in it, at the end of the day
difficult workplace personalities can be very upsetting for all
of those who have the misfortune of sharing time, space, and
job tasks with them. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is
to describe ten difficult workplace personalities which are
common to many workplaces and strategies for effectively
communicating and interacting with them.

3. What is Personality?
Before learning more about difficult workplace
personalities and how to handle them, it is important to
understand personality. Basically stated, personality is the
sum of characteristics and traits that define a person's
typical thoughts, emotions, and behaviors in over time
(Malik, 2007). For those who have personality traits that
are considered outside of the norm and potentially
harmful to themselves and/or others, a personality
disorder may be present.

4. 06 Difficult Workplace
Personalities

5. #1: The Gossip
A common difficult personality type found in many office
environments is "the gossip." This type goes without much
explanation, as it is common knowledge that people like this get
their title from talking about other people (often behind their
backs) and spreading rumors about others (which are oftentimes
untrue or exaggerated versions of the truth). If you have ever found
yourself in a conversation with the gossip at your office, you
probably know what to expect from them. You may have even
found yourself the victim of their bad habits, maybe with even
realizing it.
Office gossips often behave this way out of their own insecurities or
to create drama in order to entertain themselves. Indeed, talking
about other people may be a way to deflect attention away from
their own bad traits (e.g., poor work performance) or a way to
create situations that they find amusing. Gossips may also hold the
misguided belief that their gossip is a way to connect with other
coworkers with whom they share their gossip.

6. #2: The Blamer
Blamers are another common type of difficult personalities found in
many workplaces. For sure, there are times when most of us find
ourselves pointing the finger at someone else when perhaps we
were the cause of a situation or problem. But "blamers" (also
referred to as "guilt trippers") are those who constantly shift
responsibility away from themselves and onto others whenever
things go wrong in the office. Rarely do they acknowledge or
apologize for their own misgivings, mistakes, bad decisions, or poor
performance. And oftentimes they stretch the truth in order to
convince others that their version of events is accurate and factual
even when it's not.

7. #3: The Flyer
This difficult workplace personality is the highly emotional type who
may "fly off the handle" at any time. They may also be called the
"drama queen" or "drama king" and are very emotionally reactive people
(Miller, 2014). Such people may have traits of histrionic personality
disorder even if they do not have the disorder itself. This personality
type will show a "pattern of excessive emotionality, attention-seeking,
need for excitement, [act] flamboyant theatrically in speech and
behavior, and use of exaggeration to maintain largely superficial
relationships for the purpose of getting emotional needs met" (Miller,
2003, p. 427).
Oftentimes, you may find yourself drawn to this type of person in the
office when they're in a good mood because they can be funny,
entertaining, and energetic. However, when types like this feel like
they're needs are not getting met they may "fly off the handle" so to
speak and became very angry and dramatic. They may also be
unreliable in following through with tasks and bad about making
decisions based on emotions instead of facts and data (Miller, 2003).

8. #4: The Control Freak
This difficult workplace personality is the type who is often nitpicky
and critical of others who do not do things their way. Such people may
have traits of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) even if they do not
have the disorder itself. They often feel the need to control the
outcome of seemingly everything and everyone around them and may
even step over appropriate boundaries and attempt to control
situations that aren't relevant to their own job duties. They may also
be perfectionists and have impossibly high expectations for themselves
and others. However, they may be a valuable asset to your company or
organization due to their high attention to detail.
To communicate effectively with the control freak may be a great
challenge, especially since he or she may very well be your supervisor
or boss. Some strategies you may consider include:

9. #5: The Victim
The victim is yet another difficult personality type found in
many offices and is an obvious one to spot. This is the person
who is often a constant complainer and attempts to draw
people's attention to their problems (or perceived problems)
every day. For example, they may complain about their work
duties and try to convince everyone that they aren't treated
fairly and have more work than everyone around them. Or they
may play the victim when something goes wrong on a team
project and claim that they were left out of important
conversations. One study identified common personality traits
of workplace victims and found that they "tended to be less
independent and extroverted, less stable, and more
conscientious than non-victims" (Coynea, Seignea & Randall,
2010, p.335).

10. #6: The Quiet Type
The quiet type of personality is a self-explanatory one and
often easy to pick out in an office. This type is not
necessarily a difficult personality but can be a confusing one.
This is the person who is usually aloof in the office, may sit
at their desk a lot (instead of conversing at the water cooler
or joining everyone for lunch), and may close themselves off
to others by hiding behind their cubicle, keeping their office
door shut, or wearing headphones.

11. Conclusion
Ultimately, all of us find ourselves working with difficult
people and personalities at some point during our career
lives. By understanding what personality is and the common
ones that cause difficulty within workplaces, you may be
able to better navigate your work relationships and protect
your own interests and well-being.
The following offers some final tips on dealing with difficult
people and their personalities in the workplace: