Elizabeth B. Brown - Working Successfully with Screwed-Up People

It doesnt take two people to change a relationship; it takes one.

W orking Successfully with Screwed-Up People is not like any other business book on the market. It is a workers manual, how-to book, management guide, and co-workers Bible. You wont find rules for growing the business, staying afloat, or finances bottom line here. This book deals with the driving me crazy people issues that, nine times out of ten, you carry home at nightthe gnat issues that come with working with a (pardon the expression) screwed-up person: the co-worker in the next office who chats more than she works; the off-the-wall supervisor; the customer who, by the way, isnt always right; and the endless list of nail-biters, naggers, hangers-on, bullies, and incompetent, irresponsible co-workers and customers. This book deals with an unspoken, rarely addressed, and universal problem: getting along with those in your work world.

You arent alone if you think the people with whom you work are making your job more difficult. We all have someone with whom we deal (or have dealt) who aggravates and irritates. Perhaps you will appreciate the comment made by a middle-aged man shuffling behind me with his bags at the Salt Lake City airport. All flights to the East Coast were canceled due to snow and ice. Airline customer service was in crisis. My guess is that you have experienced such a maze, where strangers become instant friends, commiserating about the unanticipated nightmare.

This baggage-pushing chaps loud pronouncement turned a lot of heads: Id choose to stand in line any day if it would get me out of the office.

I responded, Wowmust not be much fun at your job. He laughed, and quickly justified his remark, saying, Standing in airport lines is a walk in the park compared to dealing with the crackpots I work with.

This man definitely had a working with screwed-up people problem. There is trouble in the corral if standing in an airport line is more palatable than returning to your office.

Have you noticed at-work problems are addressed as challenges to be met, dealt with, and resolved? People problems, on the other hand, like those of Scott, the man in the airport line, are stuffed under the table, whispered about, and often utilized as excuses for poor job performance. The sort of joking comments we make about our work environments that are the tip of the iceberg of people problems is the meat upon which Working Successfully with Screwed-Up People will chew. Though this book isnt written about management, supervision, team playing, or even customer satisfaction, it is all about business. So often these hinted-at negative interactions at work clog up the gears of business. Improve workplace relationship interplay, and the practical business side will run more smoothly. Jobs are as much about the undisclosed problems and opportunities of interpersonal relationships as work skills.

Maybe Scott stumbled into working with crackpots because, like most of us, he accepted his job when a door opened for employment. He didnt choose the people with whom he worked. He chose a way to earn money for food and rent. Perhaps his job description has him plowing someone elses cornfield without the possibility of planting his own garden. Perhaps he was fortunate to find the career of his dreams. Either way, it is safe to say no one told Scott that signing his job contract included a shotgun marriage to a family of strangers.

J obs are as much about the undisclosed problems and opportunities of interpersonal relationships as work skills.

This book is for all of us who need tactics to free us from spinning around the underwear issues, the ones no one shares except through innuendo, gossip, and raised eyebrows at work. We can be encouraged by practical ways to deal with irritating people problems that can cause us to roll our eyes and force us to stuff our true feelings. We can learn keys that unlock positive ways to release stress and use humor as we respond to bang-your-head-against-the-wall aggravating behaviors. Working Successfully with Screwed-Up People may keep you from twisting around the person you find offensive or, in Scotts case, preferring a three-hour rescheduling line at an airport to being in the office.