Originally Published April 28, 2016.
While being blindsided by a coworker is never ideal, it’s a situation that many of us have or will experience in the workplace. If you find yourself in a predicament with a coworker that you feel is shady, use the below tips to sort through the situation.
Communicate
Getting last minute notice that a coworker
is leaving your team or dividing their time between your department and someone else’s department is never a good thing, but one that can easily happen to us. Rather than getting upset with your coworker about their lack of communication, be the bigger person: Ask them directly what’s happening. A simple conversation can help you clarify any fuzzy details and it will allow you to hear an explanation for why things unfolded the way they did.Be honest
Being honest with a colleague isn’t always easy, but it’s the necessary thing to do if you really want them to understand how you feel. Opening up about why you felt a situation was wrong will not only help to prevent your coworker from handling things the same way in the future
, it can help them to reflect and rethink their approach to things and how it affects those around them.Take time to assess the situation
Oftentimes, we jump to conclusions about a situation that we feel we were excluded from. Who else knows besides me? Why was I the last person to find out? Before
getting lost in the situation, take time to really assess how things panned out. Ask yourself, “Is this a situation that involves my input? Do I only want to be in the loop for egotistical reasons? If the answer to these questions is “yes,” reassess why you’re stressing about the situation.RELATED CONTENT: Ask Sheree: How To Deal With Racist Coworkers