Difficult coworkers?

Question

I have been working at my job for 2yrs now. My coworkers are haters. One has tried to make me loose my job several times, while the other co-admin, doesnt do any work but wants to sit in the "position" of head admin because she has been there forever.

How do I deal and get around them for a promotion?

Answer 1

For one, try not to focus on what others do or not do unless it directly effects your work.  If it does, then let a superior know about it.  If they see that your productivity is hampered and are a valued employee, they'll try to rectify the situation.

Don't make yourself a complainer and whiner to upper management, they will grow a deaf ear to it and see you as nothing but a cry-baby, nixing your promotion dreams.

Best bet is to dive deeper into your work and ignore them, be professional and tactful with them, but don't let them steer you off track.  They are probably jealous of anyone who makes them look lazy or stupid or both and use their destruction tactics accordingly.

You've lasted two years, find a strategy to minimize the time they take up in your brain, don't let them distract you from your own goals.

Answer 2

Ibuildfuru has an excellent answer.  I just want to add to it by repeating a couple of things you already know.

Do NOT gossip about your coworkers to ANYBODY.  EVER.  I don't care if you're out of the office, 200 miles away at an amusement park with a group of friends.  The minute you start blabbing about these coworkers is the minute that your boss, or your boss's boss, will sit down right behind you where they can hear every word.  When you gossip about your coworkers, you are showing management that you can't be trusted with confidential information and that you're a whiner.

Document, document, document.  Boss sends out a memo today that says you have to finish XZY project by Thursday at 4 pm.  She reminds these 2 coworkers that they have parts of the project on their desks that must be finished by Tuesday at 10 am in order for you to get to the next step.  There's your first document.  Now you keep track of every phone call, email, post-it note, or verbal question/comment from these 2.  If they cause you to miss deadlines or turn in incomplete work, you need a written record that shows what happened when, what you asked for, when you asked, when they got it to you.  

If they're just generally making your life miserable because they don't play well with other women, again - keep notes.  What did they say, how did you respond, what happened next.  Don't leave this stuff to your memory, because this is the kind of thing that comes back at review time and bites you in the behind.

Be polite.  Always.  Don't stoop to their level.  Keep it professional.  Chin up, pleasant, focused on the job.  Don't give the coworkers or your boss any ammunition to use against you.

And remember that they will get their just rewards.  You may not be around to see it when it happens, but fate will circle around and pay them back for how they treat you.

Answer 3

Do your job to the best of your ability and ignore the rest.  They are everywhere in every job you go to.  They do the things they do because they are miserable and are unhappy.  They seek attention in a very negative way.  BUT...a cure is to ignore them because when they don't get the attention they so crave they either give up or go and pick on someone else.  Sometimes it takes them a while to get the message but it will work.  Good luck!!

Peace & Love :)

Answer 4

Stand your ground.  Have a sit down with your supervisor and lay it on the line.  The troublemaker just needs to be outed, while the slacker just needs to have the truth told about them.  Do your job as well as you can, but start looking for another job.  That way, you can bail or leverage the boss into giving you the promotion.  Good luck.

Answer 5

Welcome to life in the office!  All you can do is keep grinding away and applying yourself.  You will be noticed by upper management and promoted if you do good work and don't get involved in all the office politics and gossip.  The person trying to get you fired will probably end up going before you do; I wouldn't even worry about them.