Reaching serenity with your coworkers sounds like an impossible feat. There’s always that one person who you cannot stand, and no matter how hard you try, they always ruffle your feathers. And we all know that if you could live successfully without working, then you probably wouldn’t work. But unfortunately, working isn’t a choice for most people. It’s a necessity.
This choice becomes less of a chore if you work in a serene environment, and part of this deals directly with the people you work around. The better these people are, the better your overall environment will be, and the better your experience will be at work. But just like working isn’t a choice for most people, neither is who you work around.
However, where there is a will, there is a way (or so we’ve been told). And if you can pinpoint who isn’t necessarily healthy to work around, then you can do your very best to recondition these people to work in a way that’s beneficial to all. Or at the very least, you can turn the other way to create a small space of serenity for yourself.
Here are a few of those people you should highly consider reconditioning or avoiding altogether. Unless one of those people is you… then you really just need to do some soul-searching.
The negative Nancy.
There are some people who only know how to be negative, and when they do try to be positive, it looks like they’re in physical pain. And unfortunately, there isn’t much you can do with these people. Pumping up your workplace culture with company-wide events and reinforcing company values might help a little. But if they’re naturally a negative person, you can’t exactly change who they are. You might have to consider cutting ties with them or trying another approach—like offering them a remote position or (if they’re worth it) their own office.
The time-wasting Trent.
There’s the person who gossips all the time and then there’s just the person who talks all the time. The first person affects your culture negatively, while the second one is simply considered a productivity killer. Just as you would with the gossiper, the one who won’t be quiet also requires a one-time, face-to-face conversation. However, if this is just way too awkward for you, then setting up standards on when it’s time to work alone and when it’s time to work together might be the route to go. Companies with open-office concepts typically tend to do something along these lines, but only because they have to.
The gossiping Gabby.
Gossip is never a good thing. Not only is it harmful to the person being gossiped about, but it affects the people hearing the gossip negatively, as well. It weakens your company culture and puts a damper on the overall mood of everyone in the building. If there’s someone in the office who just can’t stop talking about your coworkers, then you need to put an end to it. And this doesn’t even require a visit to upper management. Just have a real conversation with your coworker about how it affects your working environment, and they’ll probably stop. Hopefully, they might even be a little ashamed of their behavior.
The dirty David.
Organization and cleanliness don’t come naturally to everyone. And sometimes mountains of old wrappers and piles of leftover paperwork do come naturally to people. But despite which category you fall into naturally, when you’re at work, you better re-adjust yourself to be organized and clean. A messy desk won’t help anyone be better at their jobs. It’ll just make things more difficult to find, more unpleasant to look at, and more annoying to be around. If someone around you is lacking in the organizational department, then you could ask your HR manager to send out a monthly or quarterly reminder to clean up any leftover messes and tidy up their surroundings. They should get the hint at that point.
