20 Ways to Deal with Difficult Co-Workers

Everybody's got 'em: The billigerent bruiser, the whining baby, the guy who misses deadlines and makes everyone else work late as a result. How do you deal with a problem person on the job? Here are 20 suggestions for dealing with conflict at the office.

Some of my favorite tips from the piece:

• Talk in person or by phone - Email is too easy to misinterpret and can exacerbate the problem.
• Get specific - "Hey, let's do better" is too vague to encourage corrective behavior. You need specific problems and a detailed plan to generate remedies.
• Stay on topic - When talking to the worker, keep your list of issues short and sweet. Don't delve into irrelevant issues or concerns.
• Watch your language - Just like mom said.
• Keep it mellow - Don't raise your voice, just stay on an even keel.

Those five are good, and the other 15 are equally worth reading. Give the full story a spin by clicking the link above.