It has been a given that apart from our own homes, the place we dedicate most of our time to and spend the most hours in, is our workplace. In this regard, we ought to create a corporate space that would not only help us thrive in our own respective jobs and be productive at work, but we ought to foster one that encourages us to go to work every single day.
While all of us are desirous of a positive and healthy work environment, it is not always up to us. More often than not, it has plenty to do with the people we work with and how we deal with them. Cultivating professional relationships with your colleagues is often recommended, ideal even. But sometimes, no matter how hard we try, we would get lumped and compelled to work with people who do nothing but breed toxicity in the workplace. While you might want to call attention to their behavior (or even resort to human resources if that is your thing), they would remain blissfully unaware of the negative impact they have on the people around them. Whether they derive pleasure from the behavior itself or are seemingly oblivious attitude they possess, we do not know. But the toxicity they bring with them tends to disrupt the workplace, cause strife between colleagues and worst of all, cause you stress. It does not matter what sort of office environment you have—whether it may be a lush and sophisticated office for rent in BGC or elsewhere, the fact remains that if you work with toxic people, it is inevitably going to take its toll on you.
Although working with them is not something you can help, minimizing your exposure to them or distancing yourself from them would be helpful. To do this, you need to be aware who they are first (or if you are one yourself). Below is a list of the most toxic colleagues in any workplace:
The Gossip
Office gossipers are always to first the latest news on a particular colleague. Resultantly, they would take pleasure in telling their juicy tales to others as well. It would have been well and good if all they had to say were the accomplishments and achievements of the person subjected to the gossip. Unfortunately, this is rarely the case as gossipers often derive pleasure from other people’s misfortunes. Even more so, they would at times embellish their stories to make it seem even more entertaining at the expense of the person subjected to the blather.
The Victim
Victims can be a bit of a challenge to pick out from the crowd as your initial reaction would be to empathize with them. However, they see your empathy as an avenue for slacking off and pushing of any work or personal responsibility during their “time of need”. You are only enabling their languor and impeding their progress. Once you see through their act and slack, feel free not to do them any favors and let them learn to fend for themselves.
Temperamental
While it is understandable to get too stressed for words in the workplace, you are expected to act professional about it. Unfortunately, you will often work with employees who cannot seemingly leverage their emotions. Unfortunately, some of them will project their feelings into you and would blame you for their misfortunes. More often than not, you allow them to because you feel sorry for them. However, you should learn how to avoid them or you would start feeling negatively as well.
The Manipulators
There are some colleagues who often suck the energy and time out of your life under the guise of friendship. However, you should not let this veneer of camaraderie fool you—even if they treat you as a friend as more often than not, they have an ulterior motive. They often want something from you, whether it is to take credit for a project both of you worked on or a promotion you were counting on, they would take and take from you with little to no giving back at all. Avoid this at all costs.
