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Note and disclaimer – Before reading this post, please note this post is for professional development purposes only. It shouldn’t be used to fully solve your issues at work, whether professional or personal. Please seek professional assistance and advice from your place of employment or external support network. Further to add this post if not a reflection of my current or former employers for that matter, rather a shared experience of previous experiences in the workforce.

Let’s face it straight up. In any workplace you enter, you’re going to come across a variety of people. Some of these people will be nice and other’s not so; some will be proactive at work helping others, going above and beyond and others will get away with doing the bare minimum. These behaviours also extend to your managers and snr leaders. I’ve come across these personalities and traits in many people. I’ve grown to love and loathe some of the people I work with. These are cold hard facts in the workforce.

What I want to do is share some my experiences of what I did when encountering these individuals.

• The fire fighters – the outlandish and fist thumping individual (…. well not literally fist thumping, but you know what I mean 🙂 )
  • The fire fighters are the people that appear to have the right to talk all the time
  • They use a tone and exert a persona that probably is suitable to a sporting match rather a corporate setting
  • Unfortunately these people exist
  • How I handle these individuals:
    • If they are talking to me directly, I usually pause for a few seconds and ask them politely to tone it down
      • I then ask them to repeat it but in a more quieter tone
        • (If the person really isn’t getting it and you really want to push it, I’d repeat the steps above again. Pausing a few seconds longer and then asking the person to tone it down and repeat the question again. However this is only recommended if you are confident. Usually after this scenario there is silence. I usually respond, “I got you, loud and clear”, and then walk away).
    • Behind the scenes and during quieter moments I would consult that person’s manager and advise how they spoke to you
    • I would not fire back at these types of people
      • I have better things to do and want use my energy more positively
• The talkative one – the people that hijack the agenda leaving the rest of the group less than 5 minutes to speak
  • There are individuals that don’t stop talking and rarely give the audience a chance to speak
  • Don’t feel that you are intimidated or feel small. You have tremendous value and to sit there and listen is your strength.
    • These individuals are usually set on auto-pilot
  • How I deal with these individuals:
    • I usually just let them talk, talk and talk
    • Keep a mental note (or write down) on the keywords they mention that might be useful in that meeting
      • Making this mental note means you will take value from that person or from the meeting
    • If you do feel there is no value in the meeting, you can politely ask if this meeting or conversation can be discussed another time
      • You can ask directly, “what do you want”, “get to the point”
      • There are ways to obtain value from these talkative people. It’s a matter of studying their talkative methods
• The silent ones – these people know alot (or not) and rarely participate in group meetings and social events
  • These individuals don’t say much and lack participation in the workforce
    • Some even use their silence in a insidious way
  • There are quiet individuals who are shy, and quiet individuals who are egotistic. The latter are the individuals that really grind my gears.
  • How I deal with these individuals:
    • I’m usually straight to the point with these people. I ask ‘yes’ or ‘no’ type questions.
    • I usually build my knowledge around these individuals
    • At first don’t get to know them and be their buddy straight away. They might be going through some issues or they are defensive
      • Work your way knowing the person (this is by no means an obligation).
        • After your ask the ‘yes’ / ‘no type questions, you can probably start asking things like ‘how was your day’ or ‘did you get up to much’ etc
• The hoarders – people that have an abundance of knowledge and have difficulty in opening and sharing this knowledge (in fear of being redundant 😦 )
  • These are individuals that hoard / keep documentation, knowledge, processes, procedures to themselves.
  • They fear that sharing these items they will lose their jobs
    • This is far from the fact. No one loses their job by sharing what they know
      • In fact it helps build teams and confidence in individuals
  • How I deal with these individuals:
    • I usually ask that I’m there to assist and help
    • I’m not there to take their jobs instead I’m there in case I’m needed
    • They can rely on me and if needed they can ask
    • I work with them and listen why they have this persona
    • I ask them if they don’t want to converse with me and share knowledge, if there is documentation that I can read
      • If they are willing to share it of course

Summary:

• I have covered a few people with the traits mentioned above.
  • There is more personalities to come across in the workforce
• Remember everyone is different and has different needs and wants
• Don’t feel you need to be the psychologist to all these people
  • You have work to do and it’s ok to get your work done first
• Value yourself; your role, opinion, self worth is great. Never believe otherwise
  • Don’t let the personalities of others change you
  • These individuals we’re raised differently to you
• Continue to build and learn your strengths and study the weaknesses of others.
  • Let the your strengths power your career and let the weaknesses of others become your advantage