Working with a toxic coworker can be frustrating. They cause stress, decrease efficiency and sour the relationships among team members. They make life difficult for everyone. So, it’s essential to identify the signs of a toxic coworker and deal with them sensibly.
They can cause frequent emotional upheavals too. People feel the damage even in outside-the-office life.
In this article, I’m providing nine signs to identify toxic workers. You’ll also get a few ways to deal with them
Check them out to maintain your sanity.
#9 Signs of Toxic Coworkers
Here are nine signs of a toxic coworker to watch for.
1- Interferes with Your Work
A toxic coworker creates distractions in the office. Such coworkers take your focus off work. They don’t care for their work and have no concern about others. What’s worse, they interfere with your tasks disregarding your deadlines.
They engage you in chats, make you take a break, or ask you to do things completely irrelevant. It’s fine to take breaks and help friends. But when the interference is excessive and deliberate, it needs to stop.
2- Takes Unfair Credit
Toxic coworkers fail to give due credit. They steal ideas and intentionally undermine others’ contributions. They take help from you but keep all praises to themselves.
Toxic coworkers are quick to grab the glory but try to hold other people back. When something goes wrong, they smoothly pass the blame on to others. They just can’t see anyone shine.
3- Passes Tasks to Others
Another common sign of toxic workers is that they lack accountability. When something isn’t complete, it’s never their fault.
They procrastinate at work and pass tasks to others. Toxic colleagues aren’t cooperative. And they do what’s convenient for them. Such people also have a hard time understanding others’ perspectives and accepting constructive feedback.
4- Gossips Around the Office
Toxic personalities at work also tend to engage in gossip. They spread rumors, judge others, and make fun of their colleagues.
Gossiping can diminish the dignity of the person in focus. It’s an invasion of their privacy and it creates mistrust among the coworkers. Gossiping also wastes time that could be otherwise spent in productive conversations.
5- Shows Unhealthy Competition
Bad coworkers are competitive in an unhealthy way. They try to put obstacles in your tasks so that they can win. They downplay others’ achievements. And they try to force you into believing what they do is the right thing.
Even their compliments might come off as insults. They make you feel inferior and put negative thoughts into you. They harm you mentally, making you believe you aren’t good at your job.
6- Plays the Victim Always
Life isn’t all roses, of course. But a toxic coworker always plays a victim to their situation. They complain about the sake of complaining. They have endless complaints about everything.
Such coworkers make it tough for everyone to be positive. They make it hard for you to focus on the work and enjoy it. It gets exhausting when you have to listen to someone’s sob story throughout the workday.
7- Has no Respect for Time
The lack of respect for others’ time is among the common traits of toxic coworkers. They’re never on time for meetings. They never deliver their part of work on time.
Toxic coworkers also cause intentional delays and make excuses. They might even create unnecessary panic just to buy some extra time for themselves. It affects the productivity of the entire team.
8- Puts Themselves before the Team
Another sign of a bad coworker is that they’re self-centered. They’re not team players. They put their needs before the team. They care only about themselves and their benefits.
Such toxic coworkers try to level up at the expense of others. They don’t care how important your part is, they demand everyone’s attention to their needs, and they might not even hesitate to spread rumors or play victim to make themselves the good egg.
9- Acts like Everyone’s Boss
Bad coworkers often act like a bully. They humiliate everyone, criticize them and intimidate them. These people acting like everyone’s boss is another sign of toxic workplace behavior.
Such coworkers watch your every move, assign tasks and make you feel they’re superior to you. They think they know everything, and they leave no chance to make you feel inferior.
Related: Signs of Office Bullying and How To Deal With It
How to Deal with Toxic Coworkers
Working in a toxic workplace can take a toll on your health and productivity.
Here are five tips for dealing with toxic coworkers.
1- Stay Focused on Work
Ignoring a toxic person and focusing on your priorities is the first thing you should try. When you prioritize your tasks over their requests, they lose their power over you. And you can get back your productivity.
2- Set Boundaries
Setting boundaries with toxic coworkers is of utmost importance when working in a toxic workplace. When things are getting out of hand, you must learn to say no to the requests. Let them realize they can’t order you around.
3- Confront Them
Stepping up and confronting the bullying colleagues is always helpful. Sometimes all it takes is that they know their behavior towards colleagues is wrong. It makes them realize they can’t treat you the way they want.
4- Speak to Your HR
When nothing stops them from troubling you, it’s necessary to escalate the matter. Document all the events and approach your HR personnel for discussion. If it feels imperative, also talk to the senior management for their advice.
5- Move out of the Workplace
When even the management can’t do anything, it’s best to look for another place. Don’t let the effects of a toxic work environment take a toll on your mental health. Move out and look for other places to work.
Wrapping it up
The signs of a toxic coworker aren’t always evident. It can be challenging to deal with someone who makes your workplace experience difficult. Now that you know the signs, you can deal with them efficiently.
Hoping you have a peaceful and trouble-free working environment.
Loved this article on signs of a toxic coworker? You will like knowing the signs of office politics, books on office politics, and office romance signs.
