Micromanagers, Whiners and Know-it-Alls: How to Foster Harmony when Personalities Clash

When building your team, it’s only natural that you’ll have contrasting personalities in the group.  In fact, that’s a good thing – everyone brings a fresh perspective, with individual ideas, opinions, takes and reactions.  That’s all fine and good – but what about those times when you seem to have a ragtag group of employees who are great workers, but whose personalities are a little… difficult? Here are some common office personalities, how to get along with them and how to help them work together.

The Micromanager – This guy can make your job easier, but he’ll also alienate the employees he oversees with his inflexible, dictatorial management style.  He doesn’t just ensure that the job gets done, he breathes down his subordinates’ necks while they work and point out their every mistake.  He savors power like a fine wine – think Dwight from The Office.

The best thing to do with a micromanager is be honest and straight with him about how you’d like him to change.  Ask for more latitude, and stress the need for employees to feel trusted to get things done on their own.  Thank him for his dedication and praise him for his strengths to ensure that he doesn’t feel slighted – which he could then take out on your team by micromanaging even more.  Keep an eye on him and run interference if he gets too pushy.  The other members of your team will instantly feel less stressed and more confident, benefiting the entire company.

The Whiner – When you’ve got a whiner on your hands, every request will be met with a complaint.  No matter what the situation is, she’ll find something she’s not happy about.  Give her too much work, she’ll complain.  Lighten her load, she’ll still complain.  She might drone on endlessly to colleagues seated near her, or offer up reasons why she can’t complete a task during every meeting.

There’s no cure for this affliction, we’re afraid. To put it bluntly, the best way to deal with it is to ignore it – at least when you’re personally dealing with it.  If you address unfounded complaints, you’ll feed the monster.  You can deal with the complaints without agreeing with them; empathize with her feelings but tell her that you’re very confident in her abilities and that you know she’ll get the job done brilliantly.  If your office whiner is bothering her co-workers, tactfully ask her to keep the chatter to a minimum so everyone can work peacefully.

The Pessimist – Nearly every office has its Eeyore.  Similar to the whiner, the pessimist will have a negative comment about nearly everything.  He doesn’t like your idea, but doesn’t have a better one to offer.  He’s convinced that your company’s latest big project will be a failure, and his negative energy is dragging everyone else down.

Very few people are such staunch pessimists that they fail to see promise in anything at all, but they do exist.  If you’ve got one that can’t seem to get excited about anything, call him out on it.  Tell him that you appreciate that he’s trying to ensure that you’re being realistic, but that a healthy positive attitude – or at least, keeping his mouth shut instead of voicing doubts – is what your company really needs. Do damage control – try to keep up company morale and if you catch wind of a pessimistic statement, negate it.  And, most importantly, don’t let the pessimist’s attitude get you down.

The Martyr – This office personality is easy to spot.  She’s the first one in the door every morning, and the last one out in the evening.  She’ll take on a heavy workload with a ragged sigh and a gloomy look in her eye, but she’ll never say that she can’t do it. She’ll make comments about not having a life outside work, and she’s always convinced that she’s working harder than everyone else.  She’ll never say that, though – martyrs are typically passive-aggressive.

Call her bluff.  Ask her to detail her tasks, and tell her that you’ll be taking a look at every employee’s workload to ensure that it’s balanced. And, be open to the fact that she might possibly get work dumped on her by a lazy colleague.  Some people are just too nice and timid to say no.  Either way, get to the bottom of it and do what you can to make sure she feels like she’s appreciated and that you’re actively working to ensure fairness.

The Know-it-All – This person thinks his way is the only way to do things, and offers his opinion as fact.  He can be condescending, and interrupts other people while they’re speaking to ‘correct’ them. He starts a lot of sentences with, “Well, actually…” and often claims to be privy to top secret info but won’t reveal his sources.  He may also be resistant to updating the skills and knowledge needed to help your business grow, feeling that he’s already an expert.

This guy can tend to stifle diverse voices, and that can definitely be bad for your business.  Thank him for his contributions, but stress the importance of allowing everyone in the office to offer their opinions and ideas. When the know-it-all answers your question at a meeting in a way that implies that no other ideas are needed, say something like “Thanks for your take on this,” and ask the rest of the group what they think.

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