Who Is a Difficult Person to Work With
Generally, a person who engages in office politics, causes unnecessary drama and conflict, and hinders the work of others is considered a difficult coworker.
A difficult person at work often shows signs of inflexibility, selfishness, jealousy, pessimism, and miscommunication. But at a managerial level, challenging personalities are controlling, manipulative, and narrow-minded.
Signs You Are a Difficult Person at Work
If you show four or more of the following behaviors at work, you might be a difficult person to work with:
- You’re involved in conflicts. While arguments are perfectly normal in a professional environment, too much drama involving the same people is a sign of a difficult personality.
- You’re a stubborn worker. Excessive disagreements and inflexibility at work indicate some level of toxicity in the workplace.
- You criticize everything. Constructive criticism is a must for a healthy workplace. But being too critical implies a lack of teamwork spirit.
- You overreact to criticism. Difficult people at work resist feedback and take everything personally.
- You can’t communicate your needs. A toxic or passive communication style hinders workplace relationships and affects the entire team negatively.
- You can’t keep promises. Missing deadlines, being late, and making false promises are all signs of being a difficult person to work with.
- You have trust issues. A difficult person can’t delegate tasks or work in teams because they don’t trust anyone.
- You devalue the company’s guidelines. Inappropriate or embarrassing mistakes at work might be a sign that you’re difficult to work with.
How to Stop Being a Difficult Coworker
Empathy, emotion management, and healthy bond formation at workplaces can help you become a cooperative person who’s easy to work with.
If you don’t want to be a difficult colleague, follow these steps:
- Request feedback. Let your coworkers point out your weaknesses and give you the opportunity to improve on them.
- Become an active listener. Take a genuine interest in others and practice empathy.
- Trust your team. Don’t let your trust issues stop or hinder the teamwork.
- Manage your emotions. Remain professional under pressure and keep your anger and stress under control.
How Difficult Is It to Work with You?
You might have your dream job and feel confident about your expertise. But that doesn’t mean you’re an easy person to work with. In fact, you may be a toxic coworker who’s causing all the drama at work.
If you’re asking yourself, “Am I a difficult person to work with?” this quiz is for you. The questions on this page reveal if you’re a narcissist workmate, a manipulative colleague, or a passive and aggressive collaborator. It also reveals if it’s them, not you. By the end of this difficult personality test, you may realize it’s actually your coworkers or your workplace toxicity that’s causing the problems.
By the way, if you’re a company manager, make sure to take the “Leadership Style Quiz” next. It would expose why you’re a problematic boss and what you can do about it.
Now, let’s figure out how difficult it is to work with someone like you.
