Q: How do you handle a difficult person you manage or work with?
A: Give my HELLO METHOD a try.Occasionally I have a client who is in a quandary about how to handle someone who is not easy to deal with. In fact, they spend quite a bit of time talking about them.Because there is so much to be done in our business world today and because we don’t really want to re-visit issues with a difficult person. Try these steps:
- Hear all of what the person has to say so that you are dealing only with the facts.
- Explain exactly why you think they did not handle a situation(s) well.
- List the internal or external people or systems that were affected.
- Let them tell you what they could do better the next time it happens.
- Only let It happen once. If you’re a manager, act quickly. If it’s a co-worker, it’s time to speak up.
ACTION STEPS FOR THIS WEEK
It’s the beginning of the year. Take action to rectify some difficult situations in your life:
- Take a sheet of paper and draw a line down the middle of the paper.
- On the left side, list people or situations who (or that) have been difficult and causing problems.
- Leave plenty of room under each one so that on the right side you can list solutions.
- Take one at a time and hit them head on so that you improve your work culture.
