Your office is full of butt-heads. So what? All of us have our own insufferable officemates whom we just want to do bad things to. But since violence is not a decent option, we, as professionals are expected to deal with difficult people “professionally”. And how to do just that? Let’s all try these tricks on the people we loathe.

Try to blend in. Do it for the sake of teamwork. Your officemates will tend to be against you if they feel that you are also against them. Be flexible. As long as your patience can be stretched, adjust your values and your personality to get through otherwise difficult and conflicting situations. You can still be everyone’s friend even if you’re actually just a social butterfly. The more people who thinks you’re agreeable, the more cooperation you can get from them.

I know someone who’s always picked on by her office circle. She just takes it all to avoid conflicts. While this is a very peace-loving approach, it can also build-up anger and hatred. The better thing to do is to shrug off ignorable negative attacks as long as your patience can allow, but not to the point of being a pushover. It’s one thing to avoid unnecessary and verbal discord, but it’s another thing to encourage people to keep picking on you.

Practice your listening skills. There’s no doubt you know better. But people want to talk before they listen. So let them speak. When they’re finished, that’s the time you can speak in a way you deem appropriate and give instructions on what you want done. In any word exchange, a two-way communication is always a good way to prevent further conflicts.

Pretend to be untroubled and in time you will be. My officemates used to ruin my day just by existing, but now they bore me. I realized that I’m frustrated because they’re not the kind of people whom I can be friends with. I realized it’s not their fault. You’re just a square peg in a round hole. If this is the case, limit your encounters to work-related concerns to avoid personal clashes.