How to Deal with Older/Senior Coworkers

Getting along with your colleagues in an office follows altogether different protocols when compared to relationships with friends in educational settings. In this page you can find some of the strategies you could adopt to deal with your fellow workers.

Starting your career in a professional environment puts you in front of many challenges. Getting along with your colleagues in an office follows altogether different protocols when compared to relationships with friends in educational settings. You have to interact with people of various age groups and backgrounds. It takes some time to become accustomed to the culture practiced in an organization. In the beginning, be careful in your actions to portray positive image in the minds of coworkers which will help you in the long run.
Several strategies could be adopted to deal with your fellow workers. Some of the tips include:


Build Strong Relations
You should show due respect to coworkers especially to seniors as they are more experienced. It is natural to be confused a little at start regarding communication with colleagues. During starting days of a job in an organization, many questions naturally come into mind. Don’t try to irritate older coworkers by asking too many questions. Make them feel they are far superior to you in knowledge and skills. Show them that you want to learn from their golden experience. Meet them in a friendly way and don’t pass any irritating remarks about them. Seniors try to dominate the fresh workers and sometimes impose their findings upon them. It is important to analyze the information shared by them before accepting everything blindly.


Pretend Yourself as Weaker in Knowledge
Older employees take time to accept the presence of new ones in their company. Their psychology must be researched properly to make them feel happy. Make them realize they are very strong in their concepts, knowledge, skills and work. Don’t boast about your experiences from previous jobs. Show attitude of learning instead of pretending to be expert in everything. Older coworkers generally have their own key findings that differ from theory at times and they are expert at justifying their logics. Don’t try to prove them wrong if they are wrong in reality otherwise it will strain your relations with them. Try to praise them as much as possible in a limit not to be considered as flattery. Show them you are quite impressed by their wisdom and understanding of things in the organization. Most likely, they will put some key points in your ear from their bag of secrets when you win their hearts.


Keep in Touch
To enhance your social circle, you have to keep looking for the ways to impress people in your organization and keep in touch with them. Whenever you confront a person, try to talk about his most interesting topic. It is sometimes difficult to talk with coworkers quite older than you. But it is always possible to talk with them about their youth.


Arrange Parties Regularly
It is very easy to enhance your popularity by arranging parties frequently and inviting your coworkers to enjoy some light moments. Try to include the flavors of life of the choice of your colleagues like music, fast food etc. Providing some moments of enjoyment to your fellow workers helps you in making a strong bond with them.


Show Humble Attitude
Your coworkers may not entertain you a great deal at start. They may feel insecure including you in their discussions. They may feel disturbed with your presence near them. Be polite while talking to them. Don’t try to sneak into group of people discussing about an issue. Don’t try to overhear what others are murmuring. Keep your interest to your work only and let your coworkers do theirs. If you have any confusion, you can always discuss with seniors when they are free. The questioning attitude should be humble with the will to learn something instead of posing stupid questions that would irritate older coworkers and make them against you.


Respect Opinions of Older Coworkers
Whether it is a formal meeting related to work or casual discussion on life issues, it is important to respect the views and opinions of your colleagues especially the older coworkers. Even if you contradict their point of view, you can state your beliefs without nullifying their ideas. Listen to your coworkers properly and don’t interrupt any person in discussion. Don’t demand your suggestion to be considered as a final choice in any case.


Do Good without Expectation
You should cultivate habit of helping your coworkers as much as possible in accomplishing their tasks. It is possible that your colleagues may not favor you in return. But you shouldn’t stop supporting them. You are spreading message of honest cooperation to win hearts of people in your organization.


Be a Good Team Player
When you have to do something in the form of a team, follow the steps of your leader. Don’t turn your back to tasks assigned to you. Try helping your team members with your knowledge and skills. Play your role as a good team member to lead towards success in mission.


Positive Views about Coworkers
In Pakistan, backbiting is a very common habit among workers in an office environment. Negative thinking weakens your confidence in the eyes of your colleagues when they come to know your actual views about them. It is therefore essential to stay positive in discussions. Also try to stop others from backbiting to inhibit the drug from affecting others.


Work Hard
You should do every task with dedication and loyalty. Your bosses need a worker who delivers with results whenever they ask him. Try to build trust in the eyes of old coworkers with your performance and skills in the assigned jobs. Your positive response in work will be praised by seniors. Share the work load of your fellows to play your role in group tasks.


Conflict Solving Attitude
It is natural to have conflicts with people in your organization. But it is important to rectify the problems among the colleagues. If you happen to have conflict with your coworker on an issue, try to wave off the negative aspects. There are times when a relationship is more important than your ego and self pride. Try to apologize to remove the conflicts and clarify the matters positively.


Build Trust
Your honest nature will build trust in the eyes of your senior coworkers. They should trust you in every matter of your concern that you will certainly deliver them with the best results. Don’t try to cheat any person in the company. It is very difficult to build trust but very easy to shatter it.


Appreciate Others
Praise your coworkers when they achieve something good. People feel motivated when their colleagues appreciate them. Such an attitude makes environment of the company very healthy and supportive for work.


To conclude, dealing with senior people at work is quite a sensitive job. You have to be careful in your behavior. You must show them friendly nature and keep in touch with them with your technical and moral support.

 

References:

  • http://fren123.hubpages.com/hub/Establish-Good-Relationships-with-Your-Colleagues-To-Keep-Your-Job
  • http://www.businessknowledgesource.com/blog/how_to_build_better_relationships_with_your_colleagues_024342.html
  • http://hbr.org/web/management-tip/tips-on-managing-difficult-people

More tips:

Loading...