Bangalore: In any organisation there are difficult people; some time or the other you need to deal with them. Persons who are always negative in their outlook and those who are selfish may be among the most difficult people to deal with.

"The problem in dealing with negative persons is it can rub off on you. Almost like a person with a cold infecting others in the office. Negative people tend to be cynical and cannot stand any enthusiasm on the part of others... this can tell on the morale of the team," says former HR head and now consultant M.K. Rao.

It is difficult to get better suggestion from the negative person who puts down all ideas from others. The team leader has to be tactful and diplomatic to bring such a person around to accepting a business plan developed through consensus. "It won't work... what is the point of trying this out?'' is the most common refrain of a negative person.

Aggressive

"Some negative persons may be aggressive and prone to adopt a bullying attitude towards others, because he or she is convinced nobody else knows things better than them," says psychotherapist Sunanda Murthy.

The way to deal with negative persons is to ask them why they feel the way they do and listen patiently.

If after listening to their views, the business plan evolved is explained to them, they may agree that it may be worth trying.

You need to remember that a negative person is unlikely to really change and that it is no fault of yours. What is more important is the negativity should not be allowed to affect you and other team members.

Selfish workers

Selfish people are a different category altogether but can seriously undermine the team spirit so necessary in organisations today. Extremely self centred and focused on their own needs, they cannot think of the needs of a team as a whole. "I have done my bit, why should I bother about others?" sums up their attitude.

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