Psycho Colleagues and How You Dealt w/ Them (Full Version)

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solomonsprayer -> Psycho Colleagues and How You Dealt w/ Them (8/26/2008 10:51:12 PM)

Let's hear all the stories of crazy, psycho colleagues you've ever had and how you dealt (or continue to deal) with them....be it in fast food/service industry (which I've personally experienced the most craziness in), government work, health care, teaching, law, business, military, retail, sports & recreation, sales, etc.

What was the situation like and how did you deal with the crazy person(s)? [sm=biggrin.gif][sm=bigears.gif][sm=widecry.gif] [sm=aside.gif][sm=comp1.gif][sm=error.gif][sm=funny.gif][sm=eek.gif][sm=dance.gif][sm=rolleyes.gif][sm=purplelaugh.gif][sm=sidesmile.gif]

[Title edited by moderator - admin must authorize "one stop" threads]



Withani -> RE: Psycho Colleagues and How You Dealt w/ Them (8/27/2008 10:46:09 AM)

This thread caught my eye as I am currently in a situation with a "psycho" supervisor. I prefer not to go into too much detail, since I feel it's not appropriate for me to bad mouth this person, but they are making everyone in the office miserable! [:@]

This person has a terrible alcohol problem (even drinks at work!) and has many other personal issues.

How do I deal with it? Some days, I leave at the end of the day close to tears and think I won't be able to come back. Some days are a little better. Mostly I try to stay as far away as possible from the office gossip and rumor mill, and I PRAY, PRAY, PRAY for my supervisor, and for the rest of us. I offer smiles when this person walks by, but I'm never sure if they take it as a friendly smile, or if they think I'm sneering. [&:]

I tell myself I am here to do my job to the best of my ability, and I do it. I would be curious to hear about any others with difficult work situations.



Roberta_ -> RE: Psycho Colleagues and How You Dealt w/ Them (8/27/2008 12:07:57 PM)

I make sure to take my medication so that I'm not as mentally unbalanced as the other person. It also helps for me to remember how I was before I started seeking help and then to pray for that person.



doinkdom -> RE: Psycho Colleagues and How You Dealt w/ Them (8/27/2008 12:57:22 PM)

One co-worker cannot see the positive in anything and actually looks for the negative just so she can comment. She also hates men and is extremely verbal about it. Crotchety is an adjective that comes to mind.

One co-worker feels it is her personal mission at work to pry into everyone's business and tell them the "correct" way for them to handle thus-n-so. Earplugs generally take care of that.

One co-worker goes to great lengths to keep vital information to herself, forcing me to go to her rather than simply passing it on. Controlling is another adjective I'm thinking here.

The best thing is we all have our own private offices and don't have to interact too much. I tend to sequester myself and smile when anyone walks by my door.

I am thankful for my job and the amount of freedom I have for dr. appts and such.



BlueAdept -> RE: Psycho Colleagues and How You Dealt w/ Them (8/28/2008 11:54:41 AM)

There are "psycho" people in every office, the level just varies.

How you deal with them will depend on several factors. Part of that depends on the way they are psycho. Are they abusive, passive, passive/aggresive, etc...

I have worked with people that are loud, mean and nasty. Those I generally just gave wide birth to, although I have also confronted them in a few cases. It really depends on the case.

I worked with one person that was a total loon. They were a busibody, prideful, loud, pain to deal with. They claimed they were a team player, until it came time for them to play their part. Then some how they never had time to deal with the things needing done. They would offer to help with filing, and then never get it done when it was needed. Offer great ideas on how to better run a department, normally things that took work load off them, but dumped it on someone else. Was ALWAYS talking about how busy they were, yet always had time for 5-6-10 smoke breaks a day. Could never admit they were wrong, and frequently got into writting massive letters dealing with little things that really didn't matter. I know they spent plenty of time at work doing personal things, like updating their resume (which was found on their work computer). Calling their kids, appartment super.... etc. Frequently would tell people they were being "unprofessional" yet, never saw that in themselves. You know would yell at coworkers in the open, rather than take it to a private area. --- They way I dealt with them, was as little as possible. When they requested something, I would do it, but I didn't go the extra mile. Totally ignored things that didn't matter, let them beat the air so to speak. Sometimes that is truly the best way, sort of a Taekwondo method. Using the persons own force against them.

So my best suggestion would be think about each situation, pray about it and then act as the Lord leads.



solomonsprayer -> RE: Psycho Colleagues and How You Dealt w/ Them (9/2/2008 12:58:57 PM)

Has anyone worked in service industry like a fast food or a Wal-Mart, where there are often high school drop-outs, who possibly have a criminal record nad are thug-ish/gangster-like?....

I really dislike working with these types, though I feel sorry for them as well and realize they need God's love. I never dealt with these types well in the past. I may be returning to the service industry for a part-time night job as I return to graduate school and need an easy flexible job.

Many of these guys like those working in a Wal-Mart curse all day/night long and talk about their weekend of sex, booz, and possibly even drugs ....they are foul-mouthed and atangonistic and like to joke other people. [8|][sm=angertalk.gif][sm=crazy.gif] ....How does one deal with them and do you report them to supervisor? What if there are a lot of these types on the same job? My last service sector job experience we had the nastiest crew of store shelf stockers...guys who would make snide sexual remarks and wink and holler at any woman they saw attractive....Discuss their sexual fantasies about what they want to do to those ladies and how they love doing all kinds of other hedonistic stuff. There are like 10 or more of these guys on same shift. They would gossip about other co-workers and just make it miserable...Yet the employers seemed to hire them anyways?...Supervisors knew all about it, but just gave warnings and once the supervisor was out of sight, the guys would go at it again.



BlueAdept -> RE: Psycho Colleagues and How You Dealt w/ Them (9/2/2008 4:10:48 PM)

Go to the shift supervisor, once you have gone to that person 3 times, go to the store manager. If the situation continues then go to HR.

What you are talking about can be called a hostile work environment. IF customers heard them talking, and complained that could result in them being fired. If female co-workers heard it, that could result in several charges being filed. The shift supervisor should have never let it get out of hand.

That place sounds like a breeding ground for lawsuits.



GregandJenny -> RE: Psycho Colleagues and How You Dealt w/ Them (9/2/2008 4:23:13 PM)

quote:

How does one deal with them and do you report them to supervisor? What if there are a lot of these types on the same job? My last service sector job experience we had the nastiest crew of store shelf stockers...guys wh


report it to a supervisor. I am a GM for McD and I have very low tolerance for stuff like that.

G



Roberta_ -> RE: Psycho Colleagues and How You Dealt w/ Them (9/2/2008 5:54:11 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: solomonsprayer

Has anyone worked in service industry like a fast food or a Wal-Mart, where there are often high school drop-outs, who possibly have a criminal record nad are thug-ish/gangster-like?....

I really dislike working with these types, though I feel sorry for them as well and realize they need God's love. I never dealt with these types well in the past. I may be returning to the service industry for a part-time night job as I return to graduate school and need an easy flexible job.

Many of these guys like those working in a Wal-Mart curse all day/night long and talk about their weekend of sex, booz, and possibly even drugs ....they are foul-mouthed and atangonistic and like to joke other people. [8|][sm=angertalk.gif][sm=crazy.gif] ....How does one deal with them and do you report them to supervisor? What if there are a lot of these types on the same job? My last service sector job experience we had the nastiest crew of store shelf stockers...guys who would make snide sexual remarks and wink and holler at any woman they saw attractive....Discuss their sexual fantasies about what they want to do to those ladies and how they love doing all kinds of other hedonistic stuff. There are like 10 or more of these guys on same shift. They would gossip about other co-workers and just make it miserable...Yet the employers seemed to hire them anyways?...Supervisors knew all about it, but just gave warnings and once the supervisor was out of sight, the guys would go at it again.


I've worked fast food and Wal[:'(]Mart. You learn to pray a lot.



Roberta_ -> RE: Psycho Colleagues and How You Dealt w/ Them (9/2/2008 5:55:54 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: BlueAdept

Go to the shift supervisor, once you have gone to that person 3 times, go to the store manager. If the situation continues then go to HR.

What you are talking about can be called a hostile work environment. IF customers heard them talking, and complained that could result in them being fired. If female co-workers heard it, that could result in several charges being filed. The shift supervisor should have never let it get out of hand.

That place sounds like a breeding ground for lawsuits.


Sadly it is often management that is behaving that way.



solomonsprayer -> RE: Psycho Colleagues and How You Dealt w/ Them (9/3/2008 8:19:14 AM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: DenimDiva

Sadly it is often management that is behaving that way.


Yeah!!!....I mean...we had a supervisor know about all this stuff and would just give out warnings or not even warnings sometimes, but relocate the stockers to different areas to split them up...But that did nothing.

I found that they guys (almost like a naughty kids in high school) would nod and say yes to everything the supevisor was telling them and warning them about and act very humble and then once the supervisor turns arounda nd is out of sight, they'd joke the supervisor and say he's a loser, etc. and go right back at their talking.

At that job, we did have one guy fired, but that's because he was so out of line the first day. The very first day he worked he came in not dressed properly, but they let him stay. Then he saw some of the attractive co-workers and would literally stand int he middle of the isle and lick his lips and girate his hips in thrusting motions in reference to sexual imagery when the female co-worker turned around. He was like a stalker. Even the "bad" workers kind of feared and hated this guy. He was compltely nuts and would openly talk about crimes and what not. That guy got fired.

But the other guys don't and the supervisor knows all about it.

In the worst scenario, the supevisor seemed to be kind of immoral and loose with words himself, but just not as bad and more controllled than the stockers.

There was a range of disgust and fear amongst the "good" workers over theese thug/gangster like workers who seemed to come in and then get all of their friends jobs as well. If you complained about them, you feared they'd retaliate and make life miserable for you on the job or worse outside of the job.

(On a side note, I was at Wal-Mart a few months back and saw these night stockers cursing and threatening to fight before a co-worker broke it up. I mean the language was LOUD and FOUL in full view/earshot of customers. ...)



creationtalk -> RE: Psycho Colleagues and How You Dealt w/ Them (9/3/2008 11:55:15 AM)

I have one colleague, very bright, capable...wrote some of the software we use for doing analysis and good friends with authors of other sets of software...

...however she goes crazy if someone suggests that there is anything that can be improved with any of these programs or we suggest that the software is not appropriate for the situation. She also has a very bad habit of taking completed work done by another for some high-profile project and throwing out their work and redoing it...then telling the bosses (one or two levels above supervisors) how late she had to stay to get this done and how hard she worked...and the person who did the original work is sitting there not saying a word... She has deleted work I've done that was well received and told lies about me and tried to get me fired. Fortunately for me, the person she complained to knew me and had worked with me years ago at another organization and he asked me what had happened...and believed me when I told him my side of the situation.

Others who had this happen refused to work with her again (for most this was possible since we have more work than people). I simply told our supervisor to give her any high profile projects and to never assign me to a project she has worked on. If we have to work on a project together, I generally do it however she thinks it needs to be done unless I think that it will put out misleading or incorrect information.

All of us are very happy to congratulate her on her promotion out of our division and into an organization across the street and have planned a party for the day after she is gone.



BlueAdept -> RE: Psycho Colleagues and How You Dealt w/ Them (9/3/2008 6:02:47 PM)

If it is the supervisor that is not handling that and is part of the problem, then it needs to be taken to the next level.

Chances are there is a whistle blower program in the company, if there is then follow that route. You can remain anonymous and get the area cleaned up. Just be aware that it can be a long process.

HR at the store level, or if needed at the next level up.



solomonsprayer -> RE: Psycho Colleagues and How You Dealt w/ Them (9/3/2008 6:15:44 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: BlueAdept

If it is the supervisor that is not handling that and is part of the problem, then it needs to be taken to the next level.

Chances are there is a whistle blower program in the company, if there is then follow that route. You can remain anonymous and get the area cleaned up. Just be aware that it can be a long process.

HR at the store level, or if needed at the next level up.


Yeah, we had (I no lnoger work there): "Team Leaders" (lowest authoritative rank), "Supervisors" (next up), "Managers," and the "General Manager" (highest) ...

The team leaders surprisingly were pretty good. They were hard workers and were put in charge of a group of 5-6 people to get make sure they're on track. They generally never had much authority though. They were more like cheerleaders and the person counted on to keep people working hard when supervisors come by to assess the status of work progress.

The supervisors were the slack ones that we all complained to. Many of them seemed to be clowning around and/or negligent at times. They weren't bad per se, but just didn't do much beyond giving warnings and occassionally being loose in speech themselves. Not all, but probably half the supervisors were that way.

The managers we RARELY talked to unless there was a big problem. I only talked to one once and it was a huge issue. The GM you can forget about talking to. He was never seen.

....

I think it would have had to come down to a whistle-blowing type of thing, because people were sadly scared to confront these group of unruly thug-like workers. They were all friends and would gang up and gossip and joke other employees. They would make all kinds of inappropriate sexual remarks and talk behind people's backs as soon as they felt they were alone. When I got put into one of these teams I was always hoping and waiting to move to another team, because I ahted working with those guys. They were just foul. They even tried to humiliate and joke me as well. I just gave them a whatever kind of look.



solomonsprayer -> RE: Psycho Colleagues and How You Dealt w/ Them (9/8/2008 12:15:17 PM)

My number one most disliked field with unmannered workers and environment is that of fast-food. It'd be a toss-up between Wal-Mart and fast-food, but I feel fast food takes the title for worst workers by a small margin from what I've seen.



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