How to Deal With Negative People at Work – Value Packed Guide for 2024

Everyone has a dark side, the only thing that matters is is how we handle that side of ours. Coming across negative people is very common in any career. Remember, it’s not always the person who is negative, sometimes situation can also trigger someone’s negative or bad behaviour.

Dealing with negative people is sometimes hard and tiring. A negative person can affect the workspace environment badly. The path you choose to deal with these people can also disturb the workspace environment to great extent. So be wise, mature and professional.

Tips to Deal with Negative People

1. Listen to the person/employee

Sometimes the negative behaviour of any worker is the result of negligence towards his/her voice or opinion. Listening the person will make them feel heard and understood. Your attention can make them feel important which is important for every workplace.

2. Try to find positives in their negative

This method is not much useful when the person is being unnecessarily rude and impolite. However when someone treats you bad understanding the reason behind his/her behaviour can help you focus on the positive side of the person/employee. This will give you a different point of view and help you look at the problem from different perspective.

3. Try to be polite

Sometimes other’s behaviour can trigger our dark side and unleashing your bad behaviour can be very unprofessional. It can also be dangerous for your career if you are out of control. So try being as polite as possible. Your politeness helps to keep the aura positive and calms down the person talking to you. Dont let other’s behaviour hamper yours.

4. Distance yourself

If you are affected very much by anyone’s behaviour its better to be distant from  that person. Try to distract yourself by music and use your break for a walk and clear your mind. Try to get out of a situation that can get you triggered. This helps in keeping your behaviour under check.

5. Set some boundaries

A negative person can affect the productivity and concentration of many people. So, setting some clear boundaries can be very useful avoid any misunderstanding. You can be professional and explain to the concerned person that you will like to discuss only work matters with him/her. This will give him/her the idea that you want to work in a positive environment.

6. Spend time with positive people

There should be a balance in life. Sometimes it’s hard to avoid the contact with the negative person. This can affect the mental steadiness of anyone. So spending time with positive crew can help you overcome any distress and increase your focus and concentration.

7. Work as a team player and not as an opponent

This is very useful method to create a positive workspace. Working as a team player gives out a message that we are in this together. This creates a feeling of belongingness. This helps to overcome any negative behaviour of any team player. He/She starts treating you as a friend rather than a opponent. This can be done by helping him/her out in any difficulty that he/she is facing in any project or work assignment.

8. Focus on improving yourself

Sometimes a negative person takes lot of your attention and your worklife start revolving around handling that person. This can make you really unproductive and transform you into a liability for that company. So, instead of giving so much importance to a negative person try to be passionate about your work. Try to compete with yourself to become a better version of yourself. Try to ignore the negative comments and focus that energy on yourself. This will help you grow and succeed.

9. Reach out to HR or manager

This is not the most highly recommended advice or way to deal with a negative person but this should be considered when things go out of hands. A negative person can affect the mental health of a person to great extent. This can hamper your work quality and productivity.

In such a case you can reach out to human resource or manager and inform him about your problem. They can try changing your area of work or warn the employee. This will help you find a solution and avoid any workspace conflict.

Conclusion

A company grows due to the productivity of their worker and employees. A negative workspace environment can hamper the progress of any organisation. Dealing with negative people requires your professionalism at its peak. It highlights your skills of problem-solving, conflict resolution and sometimes even showcase your leader ship.

Reaching out manager or HR should be your last option. This way can either make the person change his/her behaviour or can make him/her even more irrartional. It won’t be good for the work environment. Try to be as understanding as possible. Sometimes even try to compromise a bit to avoid any conflict. This shows your maturity and wisdom.