Dealing with different personalities at work!
Working requires you to deal with different kinds of people. There will be extroverts, introverts, warm, sensitive and strong headed people. Personality types require adjustment to complement each other instead of conflicting with one another. While personality differences can lead to challenges in the workplace, you will need to ensure that you maintain a pleasant working relationship with the people around you. This will lead to high work productivity and will help you meet your objectives! Here are some tips to help you get along with different people:
- Participate in team activities
Engage with your team and colleagues in different ways! Some companies organise team building activities to build strong relationships. You should try to take part in various events, team lunches, ice-breaker sessions and training seminars. This will be fun and will give you the chance to gauge each personality type. You can then work on yourself and adapt to their behaviour better. You should adjust by keeping in mind the various interests, perceptions, body language and nature of the person you are interacting with.
- Communicate positively
Wish people on special occasions, catch-up with them on latest happenings at office and be solution oriented about any issues that you are facing. You may like speaking your mind, but others may not always be ready to hear it. Most people prefer hearing things in a positive manner. You can always deliver suggestions using a feedback sandwich. Start on a positive note (“I really like how hard working you are”), continue with the potentially constructive feedback (“but would love to see you meet deadlines”), and then end on another positive note (“so we can continue the momentum on this project”). This ensures that you are being pleasant and yet effective.
- Respect your colleagues’ expertise
Remember that at the end you are in a professional world where everyone is trying to achieve their career goals. Acknowledge your colleagues for their expertise and roles. Try not to undermine people’s authority and instead, ask for their input, feedback, and advice when something comes up in their domain. They will appreciate being consulted, and you will learn something new.
What happens to you is far less important than how you react to it. At work, you can’t simply walk away and disengage when someone with a different personality or value crosses your path. You can spend as much as a third of your life at work, so learning the skills to cope with many different personality types can give you peace of mind. Your priority is to do great work and meet goals! Building strong working relationships is a critical step to achieving your dreams!
