In business, like the rest of life we will often encounter people who are just that little more difficult to get along with. Some use the term ‘personality conflict’ to describe the situation, yet this suggests that there is some sort of unbreakable barrier and that the problem is somewhat unfixable, since it is highly unlikely somebody is going to change their entire personality for the sake of better work relations! A far more rational solution is to change specific behaviours, rather than personality traits.
Situations with difficult employees tend to occur over time; after all it is not very common to hire someone and find them impossible to deal with after the first week. Usually it is small irritating personal habits that progress over time into larger annoying behaviours after being left unattended. In any relationship, both people influence the other's behaviour. In almost every conflict situation, both parties bear some responsibility for the way things end up.
Focusing on blame will produce no results and only irritate you further. The most proactive thing you can do in these situations is focus on what YOU can do to make things better. It doesn't matter who is at fault, if your primary concern is to rectify the situation. Try to consider your contribution in this unpleasant situation; perhaps you have just written them off as a lost cause, their own worst enemy? Now try to consider ways in which you can change this; maybe by getting more involved with them personally, making an effort to become friends.
A good idea is to approach the situation in a non- accusatory tone, preferably when you are both calm and in a private situation. Address the problems you are experiencing, once you have finished let them have their say and be sure to listen intently so they know you are truly concerned and interested. When possible find things to agree on, and offer something in return.
If you are clearly frustrated it will show. It is important that you deal with things firmly, but nicely and without dramatics. To remain the bigger person you should retain quiet dignity, even if the other person becomes rude or nasty. No-one is suggesting you smile and turn the other cheek in the face of abuse, but if you counter-attack or react in kind, you will almost always make the situation worse.
Avoid gossip of any kind as you will start to involve other members of staff. As well as being disruptive to the organization, it will make it more difficult to fix the situation. Gossip only focuses on the worst part of a person and paints them in a very negative light. Along with being unfair, it affects your thinking and actually shortens your patience, especially when you get covert support from others.
Like every situation, prevention is better than cure, by using a combination of politeness and limit setting these situations can be completely avoided. However, sometimes the conflict becomes so polarized that you will have to go to outside sources to seek help. If the person in question is a fellow staff member, one possibility is to approach your team leader and explain the situation. Do your best not to convince your boss how ‘bad’ the other person is, it will just make you look like the problem.
At the end of the day there is generally a solution to every problem. If the situation persists and you and the person in question continue not to see eye to eye, then perhaps mediation or some other form of intervention may be necessary. In any case you must remember that there are two sides to every story, maybe you aren’t being as reasonable as you originally thought? Be open to others suggestions and opinions, and be aware of your rights and responsibilities in a conflict situation, as well as theirs.
When giving a presentation or speech, there is nothing more distracting than an unresponsive audience, a restless audience or an angry audience. But by remaining calm, you can speak to these types of audiences and still get your message across. Keep in mind that it's probably not you - it may be the subject matter, the issues you're trying to inform others about or it might be something unrelated like uncomfortable seating or a bad meal.
Dealing with an Unresponsive Audience
If you notice the audience is not responding the way you expected them to respond after telling a story or a joke, the best way to handle the situation is to continue speaking. Common reasons why audience members may be unresponsive include the following:
1. The Speaker is speaking too fast and the audience is missing vital pieces of the speech;
2. The audience has sat through more than one speech already;
3. The topic is a serious one and the audience is trying to understand it;
4.Speech is too long;
5.Many times, slowing the speech down can cause a response in the audience.
If you notice that people in the first few rows are leaning forward, you may need to speak louder or slow down the speech so everyone will be able to hear you. If the audience remains unresponsive, you should continue with your speech and ask people in the audience you trust for their opinion. Feedback is important if you want to improve your public speaking skills.
Dealing with a Restless Audience
It is inevitable that during a presentation or speech, people will show up late or leave early. Not only is this disrespectful to the speaker, it's also disrespectful to the audience. When giving a presentation to your audience, ask the person organizing it before you begin if they anticipate more people to show up. This will reduce the stress of having to pause and resume the presentation after they've found a place to sit. If you're interrupted during a presentation, pause and take a deep breath. Resume the presentation so those who arrived on time can benefit from the entire speech.
Dealing with an Angry Audience
Depending on the topic of your speech, you may have to deal with angry audience members who have a different opinion on the topic than you do. While debate is necessary for the formation of new ideas, you should try your best to get through the speech before answering questions or engaging in a debate. If this is not possible, you may have to alter the format and turn your speech into a question and answer session. While you may not have time to cover all of the points within your speech, you may be able to turn a potentially bad situation into an educational one for those attending. For most public speakers, audience disturbances like these are minimal. Unless you're running for public office or you work in academia, you won't find much hostility in the audiences you speak to.
Both Sheila Mulrennan & Sharon Alexander are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Sheila Mulrennan has sinced written about articles on various topics from Time Management Skills, Sales Training and Customer Service. Sheila Mulrennan from Professionaldevelopment.ie specialises in writing articles relating to Communication Skills, Presentation Skills and. Sheila Mulrennan's top article generates over 12100 views. to your Favourites.
Sharon Alexander has sinced written about articles on various topics from Travel and Leisure, Medicine and Web Development. For more information on dealing with difficult people, and carere management strategies, visit Claim That Job at