Thanks for joining me.

I’m pretty sure that you are not driving anyone up the wall but you likely have at least one coworker who has you pulling out your hair. I have a few suggestions but no good solutions to getting other people to behave more to your liking.

With that disclaimer, let’s first take a look at a work area where people are definitely driving each other nuts. Following that, I have a set of actions and behaviors that I think we can all agree are deal brakers if our goal is workplace harmony. None of us wants to be guilty of these interpersonal blunders. Finally, I do have some suggestions for managing those coworkers who are far less fun to be around than us.

Chaos at Work

Jared was the first to arrive at the office. Every day, he would come in early and get right to work. He had a lot of enthusiasm, and he was eager to make his mark on the company. However, many of his coworkers had taken a disliking to him.

They called Jared a jerk, claiming that he was too competitive

and wouldn’t settle for less than the best. He could also be quite cocky and was always trying to prove his intellect.

Roaming around the office, Jared would look down on those who weren’t working as hard as him, and the mere sound of his voice would make most of his coworkers recoil.

Little did Jared know, his attitude was actually having an adverse effect on the team. He was extremely loud and it made it difficult for everyone else to focus. He definitely had his strengths, but his attitude was making it hard for others to appreciate them. This created tension among the team, and it was becoming a problem.

Caroline was the polar opposite of Jared. While everyone else was hustling, she was loitering around. Management had no idea what she was even doing, because she had no intention of getting anything done. She was your typical ‘coast when you can’ type of worker. Everyone on the team talked behind her back, but to her face, they were civil.

Emma was the team’s gossip queen. She had her finger on the pulse of the business, and she knew everything that was going on. She was always trying to stir up drama, gossiping about her coworkers behind their backs and in the office. The whole team felt uncomfortable around her and openly wished

she would find something better to do with her time.

Clyde was the newest addition to the team. He was fiercely opinionated, and his coworkers found him intimidating.

Nobody wanted to admit it, but they were actually scared of him. He had a way of bulldozing through conversations, and he regularly spoke over the top of anyone who dared to disagree with him.

Dave was the team’s resident worrier. He was constantly worrying about his performance and how he looked to others. He was always late getting things done and was always making excuses for his tardiness. His indecisiveness meant that he frequently had to ask his teammates for help, and this made everyone on the team resent him a little bit.

Victoria was the team’s party girl. While everyone else was hard at work, she would be chatting with friends, checking her phone, or even playing online games. She hadn’t been that productive since she joined the team, and everyone was starting to feel that she was taking advantage of her colleagues.

Finally, there was Jason. He was always rude and inconsiderate to his teammates, and he regularly disregarded

their feelings and opinions. Whenever his coworkers needed a little help, he was nowhere to be found. He had no intention of helping them, and the rest of the team felt betrayed by him.

As time went on, the issues between the team members began to worsen. They increasingly felt disconnected from each other, and all of their differences were coming to the forefront. The work environment was getting more and more hostile, and it was obvious that something had to give.