How do you deal with an impossible coworker?
James Olson
Updated on March 28, 2026
Follow these 12 steps to handle a difficult co-worker:
- Learn to voice your thoughts.
- Get to know their perspective.
- Focus on your positive relationships.
- Talk to your supervisor.
- Accept their personality.
- Stay neutral at work.
- Limit your interactions.
- Be a better person.
How do you tell if a coworker is intimidated by you?
Here are signs that your coworkers find you intimidating, according to experts:
- Lack of eye contact.
- Body is slightly turned away.
- Crossing of the arms.
- Stiff or rigid body.
- Other employees avoid you in common spaces.
- Coworkers end conversations abruptly.
- They don’t share their own ideas.
How do you deal with a passive aggressive colleague?
How to deal with a passive-aggressive coworker while maintaining your professionalism
- Understand why people act passive aggressively.
- Don’t feed into it.
- Model assertiveness.
- Enforce consequences if the behavior doesn’t stop.
- Take care of yourself.
How do you deal with a sly colleague?
Once your suspicions are confirmed, here are a couple of ways you can handle backstabbing in the workplace:
- Have a talk with the person.
- Escalate the issue.
- Ignore it.
- Maintain a paper trail.
- Send your manager updates.
- Avoid gossip.
- Be aware, even in casual settings.
Why does my coworker avoid eye contact?
If you notice your colleagues avoid eye contact while speaking with you, those are probably the reasons. “They’re afraid that you may be able to detect hostility, so the path of least resistance is for them to look away or avoid being around you wherever possible,” Taylor suggests.
When a coworker is passive aggressive?
Signs of a passive-aggressive coworker They act nice to you, but they’re saying bad things about you behind your back. They tell you one thing with their words, but their tone of voice, facial expressions and gestures tell a different story. They constantly block your efforts or covertly undermine your work.
Can a bad co-worker make your job impossible?
Everyone wants to work in a friendly and productive environment, but sometimes even one bad co-worker can make getting your job done seem near impossible. Psychologist Amy Cooper Hakim, an expert on employer-employee relationships, says this is a problem many people face.
Can a toxic coworker make it hard to work?
This sort of toxic coworker can be impossible to work collaboratively with and can make it really hard to function comfortably at work. 2. They act as if they’ve already paid their dues.
Is it a problem to have a competitive coworker?
Having a competitive coworker can be an advantage if he/she is competitive in the right way for their industry such as in law, PR, or sales. Healthy competition in the workplace can even encourage people to work harder. However, it’s a problem if the person is overly competitive with other people at work and doesn’t offer to help.
What are the different types of problem coworkers?
Some of these types of problematic coworkers include the negative coworker, the overly competitive co-worker, the gossip, the bully, and the person who pushes off work. Hopefully, your office doesn’t have too many of these types of people, but if it does here’s how to—almost, anyway—deal with working alongside them.