How to properly handle annoying coworkers

1. Discuss an encounter you have had with one of the six types of annoying co-workers described in the article.

The slacker is one of the more common types of annoying coworkers. This issue has been exacerbated by the recent COVID-19 work environment and the transition into an online only format. Here, slacking is much more pronounced as it can often go unnoticed by management and leadership within the organization. I have personally experience coworkers with major roles within the organization slack and not provide critical project deliverables in a timely manner.

Here, I work in the financial servicing industry. In my current role I rely heavily on other internal providers of information to service financial loan applications for investors. Here, investor looking to erect a building look to receive financing from the bank in order to do so. I work in the underwriting department and assess the risk of loan applications. This role relies heavily on information provided by other departments including past payment history, business plan assessments, personal interviews with guarantors, and so forth. Each of these elements require a timely review to ensure that applications comply with applicable rules and regulations. From my experience, in an online working environment, individuals are much slower to provide the deliverables necessary to do my job (Martinson, 2018).

2. Analyze how you handled this particular annoying co-worker by indicating which communication methods were used.

To handle these annoying coworkers, I am much more proactive in setting deadlines and following up with people. I also heavily utilize the phone to contact individuals personally, as emails often tends to get lost within an individual’s inbox.

I find that contact and speaking with an individual over the phone can resolve a number of issues related to delays or priorities that are not properly managed. Here, phone conversations provide an opportunity to set expectations and allow the other team members to know your overall time horizon for project completion. This is also very helpful as it allows for work relationships to be properly established. These relationships are helpful as it allows team members to better ascertain the work schedule of other in different departments. This is particularly important as in a online working environment it is difficult to maintain properly levels of communication within a meaningful manner. Through phone conversations and proper follow up, it ensures that deadlines are properly met and workflow is properly managed (Babette, 2003).

3. Assess how you will handle a similar situation in the future using the advice given by the author of the article.