How to Handle Awkward Situations at Work

If you’ve been working in any office environment (or really any sort of work environment with a lot of co-workers), you likely have lots of war stories of all sorts of awkward and uncomfortable workplace situations you have encountered.

There’s the co-worker who presents you with a holiday gift when you didn’t get them anything. Or the encounter with a colleague you’ve spoken with several times in the past—who always calls you by the wrong name.

This article shares tips on handling some of the most common awkward work situations. Some highlights:

You hustle all day while watching a deadbeat co-worker slack off. The expert suggests you try to ignore it, frustrating as that may be. If it affects you personally because you’re forced to pick up their slack, address with your boss as objectively and calmly as possible.

You are overwhelmed by a co-worker’s perfume. In this case, you need to take the blame and say you are sensitive to certain scents. (Some workplaces have even established a policy on this issue, since some people who are prone to migraines can be very sensitive to smells.)

Your colleague is chatty and monopolizes discussions at meetings. This takes some “wrangling” skills. You need to step in as diplomatically as possible and steer the discussion back on track. If you are the one running the meetings, you might also want to establish some ground rules to help keep comments on point.

Have you handled an awkward situation at work? Share your story in the comments.

Image courtesy of mloberg