Have a Dramatic Coworker? Here's What To Do
I suspect we’re all guilty of bringing our personal lives and challenges into work from time to time. For some people, however, it’s a regular occurrence, and their daily tales of woe unfold before you like some bizarre reality soap-opera that you can’t turn off.
At best, it is distracting; and for all but the most stalwart of reality TV fans, the constant stream of personal problems can wear thin very quickly.
This particular type of coworker isn’t typically a bad person – it’s just someone who doesn’t understand that it’s inappropriate for people to regularly bring their personal lives to work (and vice versa!). The good news is that they will usually stop once they realize that they don’t have a sympathetic ear. You don’t have to be abrupt, rude or nasty about it. Here are two approaches you can try:
- As soon as they start, interrupt them by putting your hand up. Look them in the eye, smile, and say, “Amy, don’t take this the wrong way – but I have to get to work.” It’s direct, but if you say it with eye contact and a smile, they usually get the message without getting offended.
- Gently (emphasis on gently) have some fun with it. Interrupt them with something like, “Yikes, you’re like a member of the problem-of-the-week club.” or “Let me get my tape recorder. I record all my other soap operas.”
One Winning At Work newsletter subscriber says that whenever her co-worker began his rant, she channels her inner Lucy from the Peanuts comic strip – and flips up a little tent-card on her desk that says “The Doctor is In – $5”
These won’t always work, and can backfire if you don’t already have a good relationship. You want to keep it lighthearted, not nasty – otherwise you’re the one they’ll be talking about next!
"If people put as much effort into solving their problems as they do complaining about them, imagine how much happier we all would be!"
