5 Proven Strategies For Dealing With Difficult Coworkers

July 16, 2021 by Susan Nudelman Leave a Comment

At one point or another, everyone will need tips for dealing with difficult coworkers. It is key to develop your conflict resolution skills so that you can effectively get along with this person. As you gain guidance on how best to navigate around their behaviors, you will be able to focus more on getting your own work done.

Below are five proven strategies for dealing with difficult coworkers

Dealing with difficult people at work can be stressful and draining. With that being said, it is definitely possible to have positive interactions with difficult coworkers. The tips we are about to go over will have you sighing a breath of relief the next time you encounter yourself dealing with a challenging situation.

1. Learn how to communicate

If you are dealing with a difficult coworker, it may be time to confront the situation. When you do decide it is time to speak with your coworker, make sure you use “I” language instead of “you” language so they better understand your perspective. When you use “you” language, it makes it hard for the other person to take responsibility for their actions.

Here are some examples of how you scan switch up your language when dealing with a difficult coworker:

“I feel upset when you speak to me that way.” vs. “You are always say the wrong things.”
“I feel that your behavior is making it hard for me to focus.” vs. “You are acting irritating.”
“I feel unheard, do you have time to talk?” vs. “Why don’t you ever listen to me?”
“I feel like you don’t understand me and it’s making me upset” vs. “You just don’t understand me!”

When providing feedback, here are some additional tips for an effective conversation:

Shoot for comfortable eye contact.
Keep an open mind.
Watch out for non-verbal signals so you know how the other person is feeling.
Don’t just describe your feelings. Make a request for what you would like to see happen next and come up with a plan of action.
Focus on the behavior that is bothering you. Don’t make it about the person.

2. Have Boundaries When Dealing With Difficult People At Work

Assertive people take responsibility for their actions. When they have an incident where those boundaries are crossed from a coworker, they don’t take responsibility for that person’s actions. They have limits in place and will not stand for people taking advantage of them. This person knows to use the “I” vs. “you” statements we cover above. Furthermore, difficult coworkers become quickly aware that they can’t push an assertive person to go along with what they want. Known, clear boundaries will dissipate the potential for conflict to appear.

3. Learn empathy

When dealing with a difficult coworker, it is easy to just become defensive. What you want to do instead is to try and understand where they are coming from. What do they need that they are not getting? Perhaps they are seeking acknowledgement or recognition. Instead of thinking how you can get back at this person, ask yourself how you may be able to create a win-win situation.

4. Become proactive

Dealing with difficult coworkers can leave you feeling emotionally and physically drained. One way to avoid this is to be proactive about your own career objectives. What do you want to accomplish in the next couple of years? The more you focus on yourself and what you want to accomplish, the more difficult people fade away to the background.

5. Be solution oriented

When it comes to difficult coworker tips, a key strategy is to be solution oriented. It will always be easier to turn away from conflict, but that will not solve anything. They key is to resist that urge and challenge yourself to come up with a constructive solution to the issue at hand. You need to approach these uncomfortable situations by staying curious and asking open-ended questions. Listen with an open mind and without judgment and the best answer will more easily appear.

Dealing With Difficult People At Work Can Be Positive

When it comes to our jobs, we are not always able to choose whom we work with. What we do have control over is how we engage with others. Try and learn from situations that you experience with others. Approach them with understanding rather than frustration and you will come out the other side a better teammate and leader.

How To Be An Effective Team Manager In 2021

July 2, 2021 by Susan Nudelman Leave a Comment

Do you have effective team management skills? If employees are unhappy with their supervisors, rest assured they are out job hunting. According to a study done by Gallup, 50% of employees leave their companies because of their boss. If your business is suffering from constant turnover, you need to learn how to manage a team successfully.

Below are five skills you need to be an effective team manager in 2021

1. You can see the bigger picture

Leaders need to be able to unite their team under one shared vision. You don’t want to get caught up in the day to day minutiae. That just leads to putting out fires and productivity goes down the tube. Once you have that vision clear in your head, you need to be able to communicate it well to your team. Any goals you do come up with should be re-assessed on a monthly, quarterly, and yearly basis.

2. Communication is key

When it comes to how to manage a team successfully, you need toy know how to communicate effectively. What you think and what you say need to be aligned so that employees understand the ultimate goals of your team. Here are some things you need to be able to communicate:

The priorities of the team
What the long term goals are
A sense of gratitude
What the strategy is and how will it be executed

Being that all employees have different communication styles, try and understand what those are and tailor your own communication. If you don’t feel like you are a great communicator, take the time to put down a plan on paper. Don’t show up to meetings winging it.

3. You need to be organized

Organization comes easy for some and is a battle for others. It is more than just keeping your desk clutter free. You need to be able to keep your projects organized so that deadlines are met. Lucky for you, there are plenty of tools to help you be more productive.

4. Be a Problem-Solver

Problems can be lurking around the corner for any manager no matter how well prepared they are. Whether it is a budgeting problem or a missed deadline, an effective team manager is a skilled problem-solver. You need to be able to evaluate a challenge, come up with solutions and execute them effectively. This is a necessary skill of any team leader.

5. Exude Confidence

Confidence is great and if you feel you are lacking a healthy dose of it, don’t worry. Confidence is a practiced skill and something anyone can get a hold of. It is about knowing yourself well and what your strength and weaknesses are. Your strengths you can leverage for success and recognizing your weaknesses and working on them can lead you on the same path.

Take a personality test like Myers-Briggs or DISC assessments. Tests like these provide an objective look at your strengths and weaknesses.

6. Fairness Is Key

When it comes to effective team management strategies, being fair is key. Favoritism is not something that employees will tolerate without frustration. You will naturally be drawn to certain team members more so than others, but blatantly expressing those feelings can be poisonous to your teams. In order to make sure the playing field feels even for everyone, never leave anyone out of a lunch date or any other outing. If there is an issue in the office, that needs to be dealt with fairly. If one party knows that you like one of them better over the other, you can guarantee the situation will not end well.

Team Building Activities: Five Ideas That Will Boost Productivity

June 22, 2021 by Susan Nudelman Leave a Comment

Team building activities are a great way to get coworkers to step outside of their normal workday and engage with coworkers in creative ways. If done correctly, the right team building activities will help boost both work productivity and employee engagement. In fact, according to research on employee engagement by Gallup Polls, those individuals that have developed friendships at the office are twice as likely to be more engaged with their work.

Below are six team building activities that will help boost work productivity and engagement among employees

1. Figure out team strengths and weaknesses

Engaging in an activity that will help assess employees strengths and weaknesses will provide better understanding of how they affect their interactions with others. By understanding the strengths and weaknesses of coworkers’, employees will:

Develop a greater respect for the talents of their team members
Better understand what each persons’ personal drivers are
Know which team members to rely on for certain strengths

2. Reward team achievement of goals

When it comes to goals in the workplace, personal incentives are relied on to reward individual achievement of goals. In an effort to boost work productivity, incentives should be tied to team goals. This will help teams to work and celebrate together as a group when goals are achieved.

3. Allow team members to learn from one another

Allowing team members the opportunity to share their knowledge is a great team building activity. Whether it’s sharing a job skill or highlighting a team member’s interests, learning opportunities are abound. Here are just some positives that come from allowing team members to share something about themselves:

Allows employees to highlight their strengths
Each team member will feel more valued
Recognizing one another outside of work
Employees feel more comfortable being themselves

4. Work in team sports

Getting employees moving is a great team building activity. Whether you organize a one-time event or you decide to make movement a regular thing, there are plenty of options. Team workout classes, charity runs, spartan races are all great ideas. Here are some other ideas you can put together on your own:

Beach volleyball
Intramural soccer, basketball, softball or any other sport
Put together a tournament for Ping pong or kickball
Axe throwing, laser tag or Paintball
Yoga
Social dancing. Think country line dancing!
Do a field day like you did in school. Obstacle courses, relays etc.

5. Learn together

A super effective team building activity is engaging in professional development as a team activity. Take work out of the picture and learn something new together. Team members bond and learn about one another. Here are some ideas for ways to learn as a group:

Attend a training event
Join your local chamber of commerce
Take a pottery class
Sign up for group tennis lessons

6. Do a TED talk group viewing

Ted Talks provide great videos that are both inspiring and thought provoking. As a group, choose some topics that are of interest to your team and schedule a time to view the videos together. Before the event, come up with a few questions to stir up some discussions among team members. Be sure to have everyone provide input and before you know it, there will be an invigorating conversation taking place. Here are just some of the topics you can find TED Talks on:

Building stronger connections with others
Making career changes
Unleashing your natural creativity
How to have honest conversations at work
Improving relationships with money

7. Serve the community

Finding an activity that involves giving back is a great way to not only build perspective but helps build comradery among the group. Here are a few ideas on ways to volunteer as a team:

Check out Habitat for Humanity and build a house
Spend time at a local animal shelter
Help serve at a food pantry
Organize a beach clean-up or pick up litter around the neighborhood

Work Productivity Hacks 2021: Five Tips To Boost Office Efficiency

June 16, 2021 by Susan Nudelman Leave a Comment

Work productivity hacks is something any business and/or individual could use to help boost work performance. From productivity software to all the best tools and techniques, the right changes can make a real difference when it comes to productivity. Below we cover key work productivity hacks that will have you feeling accomplished when you leave work at the end of the day.

1. Incorporate a free work day into the week

No, we are not talking about taking the day off. We are talking about incorporating a day that is free from appointments, meetings or designated tasks. By doing this, you are able to use that free day to work on any projects without any interruptions.

2. Try Out The Pomodoro Technique

Invented by software developer Paul Klipp, the Pomodoro Technique is a key work productivity hack. It consists of putting in intense work for 25 minutes and then taking 5-minute breaks. The thought process is that you will be able to focus that much better on one single task instead of multi-tasking and wasting hours of precious time on multi-tasking.

3. Use Post-It Notes

A great work productivity hack is to jot down your three most important tasks at the beginning of every work day. By implementing a habit like this, you know where you need to focus. It will help you also see how to organize the rest of your tasks as well as how to delegate tasks to other teammates.

4. Try the “2 minute rule”

Within David Allen’s bestselling book, Getting Things Done, there is a powerful technique that is a great work productivity hack. If you have a small task that can be completed within 2 minutes, get it done right then and there. This “obvious” hack is a key way to keep procrastination at bay.

5. Have A Plan For Your Email

Checking email is one of the most invasive time suckers. According to Entrepreneur.com, Americans spend about 11 hours per week on email. The best work productivity hack that will help you avoid your email from taking over, is to set up a schedule for your email. Unless it is absolutely necessary, emails do not need to be responded to the moment they hit your inbox. You should come up with a time for when you will check your email and when you will respond. Any easy set-up is to do this morning, afternoon and evening. By doing this, you will be able to focus on whatever task you have in front of you.

18 Best Places To Store Your Team’s Documents

April 19, 2021 by I Done This Support Leave a Comment

Storing your team documents in a secure and organized manner is imperative for businesses. Documentation is to your business what water is to fish. It’s everywhere. You need it to survive and grow. A good documentation process is the key to solving all these problems.

A strong documentation strategy prevents information bottlenecks, supports collaboration between departments and individuals, and allows your business to learn and improve quickly. But to access the advantages of documentation for your business, you need a proper way of storing all those documents. And businesses are quickly understanding that. 91% of businesses are now involved in digital transformation, with 87% of management prioritizing digitalization. Here’s our list of 18 great tools you can use to store your team’s documents, whatever they may be, and go into 2022 super organized. We’ve broken them down into 4 main purposes:

For teamwork
For operations
For design
For development

Have a look and explore which tools could bring a new level of productivity to your team. Continue Reading

Changing Your Mind Should Be a Process, Not a Reflex

March 23, 2021 by I Done This Support Leave a Comment

Changing your mind doesn’t have to be impulsive or accidental; you can purposefully choose to put your beliefs to the test too.

First, decide what your most fiercely held beliefs are. Then, throw your very best arguments against them until you believe something else. Going out of your way to change your mind in this way is the key to growth.

As physicist Richard Feynman explained: “The first principle is that you must not fool yourself, and you are the easiest person to fool.”

He also said, “We are trying to prove ourselves wrong as quickly as possible, because only in that way can we find progress. I’m talking about a specific, extra type of integrity that is not lying, but bending over backwards to show how you’re maybe wrong.”

The more you challenge your beliefs, the more accurate they will be, leading you to make better choices. This is the larger benefit changing your mind offers, but there are many more.

A Scientific Guide to Summoning Your Creative Juices

February 22, 2021 by Blake Thorne 4 Comments

Does this happen to you?

It’s Friday, and you’re sitting in an all-hands-on-deck staff meeting. The boss needs creative ideas for next quarter.
“Concentrate!” you’re told. “Be creative!”

You concentrate with all your might, but you’ve got nothing.

The next day, you’re outside cutting the grass. There’s the steady hum of the lawn mower and the rhythmic predictability of the mowing pattern. Your mind slows down. Wanders. Drifts off. But suddenly . . . light bulb.

Some creative idea nearly knocks you over. It’s brilliant. Where was that kind of thinking when you needed it in yesterday’s meeting?

The answer has to do with our creative juices and the science behind them. And although “creative juices” isn’t exactly a scientific term, there’s plenty of science behind what we understand to be creative juices.

How to Master the Art of To-Do Lists by Understanding Why They Fail

January 25, 2021 by Janet Choi 36 Comments

A watch and a phone on a desk. The phone shows a "To Do" list.

The to-do list is an inescapable, age-old productivity tool. It is our very human attempt to create order in our disorderly lives and an expression of our ability to impose self-control. Most of us, including to-do list haters, keep one, and the fact is, they can work when you find the to-do method that works for you.

I don’t love to-do lists but found it odd that I still continue to use them. I sometimes worry they’re just a form of self-flagellation. Is my list-making just a futile exercise in productivity-flavored self-torture? Is the to-do list just a blunt instrument to wield in the quest for personal productivity and getting stuff done?

Am I actually achieving more in a given day because of my list? We went to the data from our users to find out.

3 Ways Productivity Increases When You Take Control of Your Health

December 18, 2020 by I Done This Support Leave a Comment

featured image for article "productivity increases when you take control of your health"

Productivity increases when you realize that “productivity” isn’t a goal; it’s a side effect of being a healthy and happy person. That means the root of the problem isn’t laziness or lack of motivation, but the certainty that we’re human beings and we run out of energy. Our bodies shut down when they’re not treated properly—as do our minds, our motivation, and our productivity. We’re going to offer a few tips on how to prioritize your health, boost your workplace productivity—and do it all without going completely bonkers. Continue Reading

Unlock Intrinsic Motivation to Inspire Your Salespeople

October 30, 2020 by I Done This Support Leave a Comment

If your best tried-and-true motivational techniques don’t seem to be working on the otherwise talented members of your sales team, you might want to try appealing to their intrinsic motivations.

According to a recent survey, 95% of managers think money is the most motivating factor for employees. In fact, an adjacent survey of 12,000 employees found that emotional rewards led to greater performance.

Not every salesperson is motivated by promotions and money, and using the same old motivations may unexpectedly fail. That doesn’t mean it’s time to look for a new hire — it means you’ll have to break out a different tool from your managerial toolbox.

How to Keep Calm and Carry On When You Feel Ignored

January 6, 2020 by Elizabeth Grace Saunders Leave a Comment

(This is the last part of the 3-part “Manager’s Series” by our friend, productivity expert and CEO of Real Life E time-coaching company Elizabeth Grace Saunders.)

Feeling ignored is one of the most infuriating situations you can be in — but it’s your job to control how you react to it.

When you’ve tried so hard to address team members’ emotional hurdles to accepting change and walked them through how to apply the change to their work situation, your blood can start boiling when you still don’t see the desired results. You feel ignored. Have you ever caught yourself thinking “How could they be disrespectful?” or “Do they notice? Do they even care?”

Before you stomp over to people to tell them exactly how you feel about their impertinence (or, send them that fiery Slack or email), step back and take a deep breath . . . and one more, just in case. Count to four, inhale. Count to four, exhale.Continue Reading

The 15 Best Productivity Podcasts of 2021

July 21, 2021 by Paige Picard 3 Comments

**This post has been updated with new podcast suggestions for 2021**

Listening to the best productivity podcasts are a great way to spend your downtime. With the average commute time in the United States at 25.4 minutes, a podcast can fit perfectly within that time frame. Rather than tuning out to the same playlist you hear every day, tune into a podcast — specifically about productivity.

Below is a list of the 15 best productivity podcasts to listen to in 2021

Without further ado, here is our list of the best productivity podcasts that will teach you the tips and tools needed to better manage your time so you can get more done each day.

Don’t Let Your Huge Goal Distract You from Small Wins

April 23, 2021 by Janet Choi 2 Comments

Go big or go home. Shoot for the stars. Aim high. Humans love to celebrate starting and finishing big goals but rarely take the time to savor the steps they took to get there. These grand statements could actually be holding you back because they distract you from all your small wins. In the internet age, accomplishments seem larger than life because people rarely document the processes that got them to the finish line. We think small actions lead to small consequences, and grand motions have the most impact. But that’s not true. We presume this “consequence-cause matching” because it helps the world seem more predictable and manageable. In return for believing this myth, we’re less happy and successful. Doing one push-up a day, writing one line a day might seem easy and unambitious. But that’s how you build a practice and, ultimately, achieve a big goal. Celebrating small wins might seem silly, but each one is a step toward reaching big dreams. Continue Reading