IRRITATING COLLEAGUE?

Actually, the question mark in the title of this piece makes no sense, because everyone has an irritating colleague. Or at least one that could use some improvement. To start with myself. I always beg everyone for ‘a little trunk’ for my iPhone because I'm always out of battery. I can imagine that our interns sometimes get fed up with that. And Lies' desk transforms into a crime scene every now and then where a criminal settlement has just taken place.

When she is, I sneak up on her little garbage heap and bring order to the chaos. And luckily, she and Jet (because she can be a handful too) also get fed up with it every now and then, and their desk is so shiny and sparkling that you could do your makeup there. otherwise I would never have dared to do that. The moral of this incredibly long introduction; even in a really fun team, you have your areas for improvement. Let's go through the archetypes of irritating colleagues and come up with a solution for each.

The lazy colleague.

The worst for me is the lazy colleague who pretends to be so busy. A long time ago, I worked at a TV show where a particularly pretty girl worked. Every time I came into the editorial office after an 11-hour shooting day with collapsed hair and running mascara (it always rained in my memory), she was there 'having fun with the boys' drinking a beer. I also remember that there were very cool leather jackets from the show, but there were too few of them. I didn't mind, it wasn't about me. But after another exhausting battle, this lady was happily chatting with her slim little butt on her desk, indeed, wearing that nice jacket.

What do you do with people like this? The professional advice is; ignore them. If you say something about it, it brings you down. Remember that others will eventually find out and that someone ultimately has to deal with themselves. You won't get far with such an attitude. I never heard anything from the best kid again and I don't think she has as nice a job as I do. And that leather jacket, I could later buy it myself. Because I had worked so hard.

The smelly colleague.

My beloved can always say to someone with a straight face; “Take a mint. You smell a bit.” Just because he says it so directly, it's not embarrassing but more in the sense of; it can happen to anyone.

If you calmly say that someone needs to spray a bit of deodorant, you make it much lighter than if you really engage in a conversation.

My method is the humor method. If you say with a laugh: “Jeeeee, how much garlic did you eat yesterday?” Or “Did you sleep under a bridge or something?” then you take it to the absurd and it becomes less personal. Then you will see that the person will do something about it themselves. And otherwise, you can just make jokes about it and legitimately sit a bit further away from that person.

The gossiping colleague.

First of all, we all gossip and gossip can be quite nice and useful, but it's not pleasant when you know they talk about one person with another and vice versa. A corporate psychologist advises making a gossip newspaper. This way, you take it back to the absurd and I think that's a good remedy anyway. When someone tells a gossip, you counter it with a completely made-up story. Say that you caught three colleagues in the broom closet and that one of them got pregnant. Hopefully, that person will then see that what they are doing is not very nice.

The colleague with children.

I have already written that women with children should hold back a bit at the office. At least if you want to get ahead. It's quite annoying for others that the mothers close their laptops at 5:00 PM and get paid the same as you. And if they also keep sharing stories about Boet, Lasse, and Lotje that don't really interest you...

I have here When you've had enough of yet another anecdote, you can tell something really fun about your cat. And then demand her attention.

Furthermore, you can address someone on what they deliver. Because just to favor working mothers; they are often masters of efficiency and probably finish their tasks neatly or complete them in the evening after they have put their little ones to bed.

Actually, the question mark in the title of this piece makes no sense, because everyone has an irritating colleague. Or at least one that could use some improvement.