THE CULPRITS BEHIND (CONSTANT) OFFICE POLITICS

It’s January 2019. Everyone’s come back, fresh-faced, with their summer glow. But before you can even finish your coffee, you hear the complaints start again. “What, on earth, could (constant complainer) be upset about, already? We haven’t even sat down yet.”

Sound familiar? Working with challenging team members is draining. As a manager, it feels like you’re putting out invisible ‘fires’ every day. Do certain ‘energy vampires’ come to mind? 

Before we go through some common perpetrators, we want to remind you about Tick’s personality assessment questionnaires. They’re based on four ‘bird’ types, so the results are easy to remember (and implement in the workplace). You might be surprised at which bird type you are. 

The complainers, the ‘experts’ & the drama queens. 

You’re probably going to be able to put a face to each of these categories. Of course, we must emphasise that diversity in a team is a good thing. However, it’s important to know where these qualities stem from. Once you find out which Tick bird type each of your team members are, you’ll understand why some people mesh together and others don’t. 

Here’s seven of the most challenging people you’ll find in teams. 

1. The ‘Expert’: They truly believe they’re the smartest person in the ‘room’. Therefore, they’re always right, of course. Experts know everything about anything. Apparently. 

2. The ‘Debbie Downers’: You can count on these people to always find the negative side. They’ll kill your buzz or ideas, real fast. 

3. The Competitors: These guys (or girls) will go head on with anyone, just for the win. They embody the attitude of the office bully. 

4. The Complainer: They always find something to whinge about. Free lunch? They’ll challenge what you provided. 

5. The People Pleasers: Sorry, but there are people who say yes to supporting or doing everything but rarely ever follow through. 

6. The ‘Objectors’: These people love having debates rather than being productive. Little work gets done when an Objector is in the room. 

7. The Drama Queen (or King): Highly dramatic, these ‘emotional rollercoasters’ always make mountains out of molehills. 

While some of these traits are at the extreme, you’ll see flashes of these energies around any office. Again, like we said, it’s not a bad thing. When you know the dynamic of your team (through personality tests), you can learn how to use this diversity to your advantage. Correlating the Tick bird types they fall into will help find clarity around managing their behaviours and quirks. 

Find out which one you are first, then arrange profiles for each of your team members. Use the red form to arrange your free samples.