In the workplace, you’ll experience an endless variety of personalities: coworkers who are passive-agressive, bosses who micromanage — the list goes on.
Dealing with different personalities in the workplace comes with a new set of challenges. You need to maintain being professional while dealing with conflict, and communication is approached differently than with friends and family.
Tracy Sandler — the founder and CEO of Fangirl Sports Network, which offers sports fans a look at their favorite professional team, but through a female-focused lens — gave us all of her tips on dealing with different personalities in the workplace. These six tips will help make your day-to-day work life the most enjoyable possible.
Compromise
As a manager or CEO, you set the rules, but it’s important that you take a look at the way your business is operating. If your approach doesn’t create an environment of success for some of your employees, think of ways you can adjust and compromise on certain issues. Doing this will show your employees their voices and concerns are being heard, and that you’re invested in each individual’s success, as well as your company’s success. When your employees feel valued, they will be more likely to work hard!
Source: Fashionably Frank
Learn
Always remember that everyone is not like you and that’s okay! Be open to learning from your employees, as they might open your eyes to a way of doing things or communicating that you may not have thought of. Remember that you hire people to help you and your business succeed, and the only way to keep up in this ever-changing digital age is to be constantly learning from others. There is no limit to knowledge!
Create an open line of communication
In this world of text and e-mail, tone and inflection can easily get lost. Be careful in the way you communicate, and create an environment where employees feel comfortable coming to you with any issues they may have. Open communication can also encourage employees to collaborate on creative ideas together. At the end of the day, remember that everyone is on the same team and is (or should be) working towards the same goals.
Source: @adashofdetail
Deal with conflict early on
If there is a personality conflict, always address it early and with sensitivity. It’s important to maintain an unbiased approach and settle conflict as fairly as possible. Allowing conflict to fester will only lead to larger problems down the road and could lead to a culture of exclusion amongst your team.
Avoid passive-aggressive comments and behaviors
These types of actions never help a situation and never make you feel better in the long run. This also ties into my earlier point about creating an open line of communication. As a CEO, it is your responsibility to ensure that line is open, and employees feel comfortable coming to you. You are the one who sets the tone for your business — literally!
Source: @rachelleea
Emphasize respect
Stop worrying about being liked or about liking everyone. You can’t be friends with everyone or please everyone (this is true in business and your personal life). As long as the work environment is productive and everyone feels respected, it’s okay if not everyone is best friends. Respect should be the number one priority.
