Straightforwardness can help when communicating with such people. They rarely understand what it means to “smooth out rough edges” and don’t appreciate soft wording. For example, instead of saying: “The changes to the project are generally good, but a few things still need to be changed”, it is better to get straight to the point: “The following points need to be corrected in the project…”.
It is also worth getting together with other colleagues. If the rude person starts criticizing someone else’s work or idea again, use the situation as a brainstorming session and take turns suggesting new options together. This will divert his attention.
Some rude people sometimes try to dominate the team by imposing their opinions or demanding that things be done exactly the way they want. If your colleague is like this, psychotherapist Melody Wilding recommends keeping their focus on results.
In most cases, rude people are task-oriented, so you can try to explain to them how their behavior is preventing the department or company from achieving more. This is especially helpful for supervisors. Remind such employees that they are part of a team, or explicitly tell them that aggressive and passive-aggressive responses at work are unacceptable.
How to work with an irresponsible colleague
Meeting deadlines and taking responsibility for tasks is not a priority for such employees. They are usually said to be unreliable and unable to stick to plans. These are the same people who prefer to go their own way rather than stick to standards. This is not always a bad thing, but when an important deadline is looming, this behavior is annoying.
To work productively with a colleague like this, you need to up the ante. It’s unlikely that he’ll think it’s important to answer your request on time, but he’ll probably change his mind quickly when he learns that the boss is overseeing the task himself.
If that doesn’t work, remind the indecisive employee of the company culture, which doesn’t exactly encourage laziness and procrastination. Perhaps this will make him reconsider his attitude to work.
