We all know about office drama, so I thought I would share some tips I have come up with to help deal with it.
Be the bigger person
It is so easy to give them exactly what they are giving you. However, in the end, this doesn’t make you any better than them. By being the bigger person, you come over as more professional and mature. This kind of catty behaviour should be left in high school where it belongs.
Try and keep it between you and them
By dealing with the colleague directly, you are able to contain the situation and deal with it as adults. Small, petty disputes don’t need to involve bosses as they tend to be busy and don’t have time to deal with them. However, there are times where it is safer to go through HR or the bosses and don’t feel afraid to do so. It is not tittle telling if you take a situation to the bosses because you don’t feel safe or your job is being put in jeopardy.
Keep scrupulous records
Be ANAL about your records when it comes to that particular colleague. Don’t rely on things staying in email lists. Physical evidence cannot be deleted or mysteriously lost. I print everything I need to and write it down in my record notebook. Alternatively, take pictures of the evidence and save them to your phone (so long as it doesn’t contain confidential information).
Never let them see you upset
This was a mistake I have made in the past and have learnt from it. Never let them see they have gotten to you. Cool, calm and collected should be your default. Then go home and scream the walls down if you need to. Letting them see you upset means they win. They are trying to make you unhappy and if you show no response, they will give up after a while. Humans tend to get bored if they don’t get the response they want.
Maintain your maturity and professionalism
By doing this, you look to be the easier, more professional employee and in turn makes them look petty and immature. Bosses don’t like petty and immature. Ignoring the snide and back handed comments keeps you on the higher ground. Don’t stoop to their level and you will be hundreds!!!
Have you had to deal with office drama and unprofessional colleagues? Do you have any further tips to add to the list?
I hope these tips can help you avoid office drama and keep your working environment healthy and enjoyable.
Until next time…
Office drama is not fun at all. I feel lucky that my company has none of that, and that we can all just get on with work as we should. Having drama at work is really difficult. You have to work everyday and be faced with horrible people and circumstances.
My advice is to just let work be work. Make sure you don’t take any of the drama home with you. Keep yourself to yourself too!
So true.. That was another mistake I used to make a lot.. Would always take it home and it would eat at me and make my me time miserable. Thanks for reading lovely
Great post.
I’ve dealt with a lot of office drama in the past and a few difficult colleagues. They eventually got found out for who they really were, but the lead up to that wasn’t fun for me.
It is so tough. In the past I have made mistakes and let it get to me and take it all home with me and it just made me miserable. Things have a way of getting out after a while. Thank you for taking the time to read 🙂
Oh gosh – HUGE hugs for you – I know how much a poisonous office environment can chip away at your self-worth and self-esteem. I stayed in a job YEARS longer than I should because my confidence had been crushed.
I work for myself now – and even if I do say so myself, my boss is pretty cool!
I can so relate to that. I’m in an amazing job now and have a side hustle for myself as well and I am loving both. It can be so hard to get out of a bad situation when you don’t have the confidence to do it because it’s been knocked over and over again. Thank you for taking the time to read and I am so glad you are in a better position now and love working for yourself 🙂
Ugh. Office drama is the worst. Just let me get my work done and go home to live my life. Thanks for sharing your experiences and advice with us.
I think navigating office politics can be a bit of fun sometimes if you treat it as a challenge to solve, but some personalities just make it so exhausting to deal with every day. Your tips here are great for covering a wide spectrum – from those mildly annoying coworkers who get on your nerves, to the people who are seriously stepping over the line and need outside intervention. Thanks for sharing, this is super helpful stuff for a problem we all deal with!
Thank you for that Sam. I am so glad you enjoyed reading my post. It can definitely be exhausting and it chips away at your self esteem.