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29 Yes, You Can Do Something about Difficult Colleagues

Does it feel like your job would be more fun if you could work with a different crowd? Are you surrounded by whiners, chronic pessimists, backstabbers, or other difficult people? Or is going to the office less pleasant because of that one person whom you just can’t stand?

In any workplace there may be folks who are hard to get along with. Sometimes you can reduce the pain by staying out of their way. But avoiding their company may not be an option. Here are five suggestions for dealing with your difficult colleague:

1) Don’t escalate the problem. The first rule is to not make things worse by indulging in petty revenge, sulking, or gossip about what a jerk that guy is. Even if he started ...