How to Deal With Overly Competitive Colleagues

You are here: Home » Guides » workplace-guides » How to Deal With Overly Competitive Colleagues

How to Deal With Overly Competitive Colleagues

Written by: MissP 387 views

The majority of people at work prefer to get along well with their colleagues, as this makes for a more productive and enjoyable atmosphere in the workplace. However, sometimes, workers with an over competitive attitude can make this difficult.

If you suspect you’re on the receiving end of regular negative treatment from an over-competitive co-worker, read the following suggested steps for dealing with them.

Steps

Try not to take it personally. It can be only too easy to assume that a person’s negative reaction to us is a sign that there is either something wrong with us as a person or that we’ve somehow done something wrong. However, if a co-worker has suddenly started behaving towards you in hostile and aggressive ways for no apparent reason this is much more likely to be to do with them than you. This is often because they feel strongly threatened by your abilities – rather than you as a person – and their way of dealing with their feelings is to create drama – don’t allow yourself to be sucked into it.
Maintain a polite and civil manner. Try to also be friendly – if you feel you can. Tempting as it can be to react in the heat of the moment when somebody is deliberately trying to make your life difficult, this can often backfire – encouraging the offender to react to you in worse ways than before. On the other hand, chances are if you don’t give them the emotional reaction they’re seeking they’ll conclude it’s a waste of time trying to get a rise out of you and start leaving you alone. It can also happen that when an over-competitive co-worker notices that you don’t intend them harm in any way that they’ll feel more motivated to treat you nicely in return.
If necessary minimise contact. This doesn’t have to mean avoiding them altogether. But if the hostile behaviour is continuing by this stage, yet you still have to deal with them on a regular basis, stick to communicating with them only when you have to without going out of your way to interact with them. However, if this colleague happens to be somebody who you don’t directly work alongside – but you just happen to see around the building every now and then then then avoiding them is probably a good idea.
Take protective measures. It’s a good idea to have some in place, as while it’s not true that in every single case a competitive co-worker goes out of the way to sabotage somebody else’s effort – it does often happen. Consider the following suggestions:
o Use secure PC passwords to protect any electronic files you use at work.

o Keep back-up copies of everything you do, in the event a co-worker tries to place blame on you or show you up in a negative light for anything.

o Keep your desk contents locked with a key.

o Avoid sharing personal information about yourself with the co-worker. Keep all conversations professional.

Tips

When attempting step one, try to also emphasize with the person. He/she wouldn’t be doing this in the first place if in some way they weren’t feeling deeply insecure or threatened. Try to appreciate how this feels to them, as this will help with step two.
When trying step two, incorporate assertive behaviour techniques into your communications. See the related articles below to find out more on this.
If the situation still gets worse after attempting all the above steps, it may be worth either directly confronting the co-worker about their behaviour or reporting it.