Managing Difficult People

There are some workers that never seem happy with what they are tasked to do. They don’t like their boss or the people they work with. They seem to thrive on conflict. Many of them don’t understand that their behavior causes drama and prevent other people from doing their job. Or they simply don't care.  In this lesson, we explore some of the reasons and the very first thing managers should do when faced with a difficult employee.

While everyone can benefit from learning how to communicate and listen carefully, there are other tips for how to turn around the attitude of a team member. Effective managers find that some people simply need to have a  better understanding of what is expected of them.  This lesson will teach you how to open up a line of communication and take the first step to readjust a person's attitude and behavior.

Unhappy, disgruntled, or difficult workers come in all different types, and while stereotypes don’t apply across the board, you are likely to see certain behaviors emerge. In this lesson, we will look at the specific behaviors of each type of person and show you ways of dealing with each of them.

Coaching is the first tool in trying to help your troubled employee.  But if that doesn't work, you may have to develop a plan that will either force them to improve or lead to discipline or termination.

Often times you can head off a problem with an employee if you catch it early. One way of doing that is through a formal performance evaluation process. This lesson will teach you how to effectively evaluate the work of your employees.

Many aspects related to dealing with difficult employees in the workplace require a manager to have a full grounding in legal matters. This chapter covers some of the things it will be helpful for you to know.

We have seen how difficult and time-consuming it can be to deal with disgruntled workers. Given that, it might be wise for us to look for ways to prevent someone from developing that attitude. We know that you can’t make everyone happy, but it helps to have an understanding of how it can spiral downwards. The attitude of one worker may negatively impact that of an entire team or department.

Unless you have children, there is probably nothing that can prepare you for the time when you have to deal with employees who don’t get along. Parents recognize the angry words, temper tantrums, and pouts. This lesson teaches you how to work to resolve the problem.

I really don’t think that people start out on the job trying to be difficult. That’s why I think a positive and direct approach will usually work in turning around a bad situation on the job.

Once you diagnose the problem and works toward solutions, I think it is a good idea to look for additional ways to motivate ALL of your employees