Five Ways To Deal With Pushy Peers

In an increasingly competitive work environment, one is bound to come across peers who want to stay ahead of the curve at all costs. It is great to be ambitious, but an excess of ambition could be troublesome for these professionals and others around them. ET finds out how to deal with such colleagues. 

Find out why

In 'How to win Friends and Influence People', Dale Carnegie wrote about how we can gain cooperation by seeing things from the other person's point of view.

"By understanding the reasons behind our colleagues' over-ambitiousness, we might be able to deal with them more harmoniously," says Pallavi Jha, chairperson and MD of Dale Carnegie Training India.

Focus on your work

As long as one's work is not going unnoticed, one does not have to deal with over-ambitious colleagues. By paying attention to them, one is giving them undue importance.

"Focus on one's own work and let that speak for success," says Jha. Sugandha Singhal, a VP in the investment banking division at RBS, always puts her personal development plan in place and runs that through the manager to avoid a clash of interests. "That shows how well prepared you are," she says. 

Rely on documentation

If your colleagues tend to take credit for all the work done, make sure you document task-related conversations to the extent of clarifying who has done what task.

"In order to maintain transparency, circulate these in the form of emails to all concerned. That would ensure no one takes undue credit," says Jha.

Volunteer to chip in

Singhal volunteers to work on projects with such colleagues. "This makes them realise that there are others of equal calibre," she says. Such professionals tend to act like they are superior to their peers, so she questions them often, and politely refuses their unreasonable demands.

"By sharing information with them and asking for additional information, one can convey that one treats them as equals," she says.

Go to the higher-ups

If your over-ambitious colleague is constantly stepping on your toes and getting away with it, try and have a one-on-one conversation stating your discomfort. "If they continue, discuss the issue with your boss or the HR department.

Inform your colleague that you're going to discuss this matter with the higher-ups and make the escalation sound like a concern rather than a complaint," says Jha.

(The Economic Times, Mumbai, 02-04-2013)