I continuously have to deal with that one difficult person who is hard to work with, who affects productivity due to a terrible attitude, chronic tardiness, or simply drives everyone else up the wall. Here are the methods I use to battle this common problem in conflict management. According to Qwests internal conflict management website, and my own personal bag of tricks. Dealing with negative behavior, may be solved in three easy steps: 1. Get to the heart of the matter. 2. Determine what problem-solving methods to avoid so you don't perpetuate the conflict. 3. Choose a different, surprising approach to solve the problem and keep it solved. Finally, here is the key to some peace and sanity in the workplace, drawn from my personal piggy bank on how to help deal with nonproductive behavior. How the difficult behavior of the individual is reinforced: I don't use the same solution that never brings new results. I always try something radically different, and employ a totally new approach so I can elicit a new response carefully. Why I fail to change negative behavior: 1. I get caught in the web of my own logic. 2. I don't realize I"m doing the same things over and over. 3. I can't think of anything better to try. Therefore, I use the following three-question formula to come up with a new strategy: 1. What is the primary problem? How exactly does it affect productivity? 2. What have I been doing about the problem so far? 3. What do I need to do instead? I need to undo what my ineffective solution did, and attack with a brand-new set of weapons. Focus on the facts. Figure out what the heart of the matter is: 1. List all the issues affecting me. 2. Decide which issue or who in particular is bothering me the most. 3. Encircle the issue or person's name on my list. 4. Focus on what I circled, and make a list of all the things that bother me about this person. 5. Pick the problem to work on. If I could only fix one item on the list, and had to live with all the others, what would I choose? 6.
