How to Cope with the Workplace Bully

As if making a living was not hard enough, along comes the workplace bully. He can be popular with most colleagues at work, well liked by the manager and efficient at his job. But the side that he does not show very often is the bullying tactics he employs on his colleagues. He may completely change and appear critical, bossy and start acting more like the supervisor. In actual fact he is more likely to be on an equal footing to the people he is harassing. How can you cope if you are facing such a situation?

Do not give up!

The worst thing you can do is give up. Remember the tactics of the playground bully? He will try to intimidate his victim and make him so afraid that they cannot cope effectively with their life. It is the same with the workplace bully. The only difference is that you have more control than you may think. So rather than dreading the next work day in case you run into your colleague, try to keep an open mind and be positive.

Be kind

Mentally map out how you will react if you do see them. How can you counteract their blows? Rather than showing your fear, look them in the eye and smile. Yes, smile! It is likely to put them off guard. Then you can offer a brief greeting and see what happens next. It is often difficult for a workplace bully to know what to do if he is faced with a kind remark. Perhaps you are the only one that day who has made a friendly remark. Do not underestimate the power of kindness. It may help to win over your colleague. In some cases, those who are workplace bullies are under a lot of stress and may lash out at colleagues, without actually meaning to cause them harm. So by acting in a kind manner, your colleague may see his error and clean up his act, by treating you better in future.

Bullies are insecure

Workplace bullies are successful because they have power over a person, who feels powerless to control their situation. You can regain power by looking at how the bullying takes place and the pattern it follows. Is your work criticized? Are you being falsely accused of laziness or tardiness? It is easy for lies to circulate around the office, or other place of employment. But you can help to put a lid on such remarks by your conscientiousness. Make it a point to do your job to the best of your ability and make sure others can see you working. If lies are spread, others can see for themselves that they are false and they will be able to see you are being mistreated. In the worst case scenario, you can call upon witnesses to testify on your behalf. If you are still openly criticized, try to confront the bully and tell them in a respectful and calm tone that you are in fact doing your job. They often notice you when you appear idle, even if you are on a break, rather than when you are working hard on a task! So do not hesitate to mention how you have actually finished your assigned tasks.

Avoid the bully

Sometimes it is possible to avoid contact with the bully altogether. Ask to be transferred to a different department, if you can. If you must work side by side then learn to accept this and do what you can to keep contact to a minimum. Consult your colleague about work related issues alone and avoid contact during breaks or lunchtime.

Tell your manager

It is not always easy to win over a workplace bully, even if you have tried to put the above suggestions into place. I knew of a colleague who was being harassed at work. He could not cope on his own, so he sought assistance from the manager. The manager was able to help solve the problem. As much as you want to avoid bringing this out into the open, sometimes it is the only option left. Rather than exposing you in a bad light, the focus will shift onto the bully. If you have good management, they will want to know how and why this has taken place. The bully will have to deal with the embarrassment and exposure. Management will be concerned about you, as the victim, and will hopefully try to solve the issue. If they don't show an interest in your welfare, they know that you may leave the company, and that would be a loss to them.

Resign

Rather than cope with further trouble at work, some victims of workplace bullying decide that they would rather resign. This is a personal decision. The resulting stress and worry may just be too much to handle for some people, and understandably so. If that is the case, explore your options before you resign. Can you take legal action against the person who has been harassing you? What does the workplace policy say on the matter? Some employees can seek compensation. By all means, explore all you options and then decide what will be the best solution for you. No one suggestion will prove successful for everybody. We all have a certain level of harassment that we can tolerate, but above that, we cannot cope. So if you have reached your maximum tolerance level and you feel that resignation is the only option left, then do so.

Fair treatment

Workplace bullies will not disappear overnight. But you can empower yourself to deal with individuals who think they can intimidate people around them. Do not show that you are afraid of people and let them control you at work. Remember that you have the same rights as they do. It is not fair for you to be subjected to unfair treatment at work. There is no rule that says each work colleague needs to be your friend. But you do need to have a good, professional working relationship with them. That will be hindered if you are being harassed at work. So act now to put an end to it. You deserve to be treated with respect and dignity.