151 Quick Ideas to Deal With Difficult People

2Don’t Let Difficult People Set the Tone for the Office

Kathy supervises the support staff at a medium-sized company. She sought my advice because she was at the end of her rope with a defiant secretary. The employee set her own hours. She routinely clocked in at 9:30 a.m., a half hour later than the office starting time. And she clocked out at 5:30 p.m., a half hour past quitting time.

To make matters worse, the woman often spent the last hour of her shift socializing. Kathy repeatedly directed her to clock out when she finished her work. But the employee ignored the requests and continued to schmooze until her “personal” quitting time. One day Kathy threatened to clock her out. But the employee shot back with, “That’s illegal.” And she was ...