If you have a colleague who uses indirect and covertly unfriendly methods to show their dissatisfaction towards an issue, that behavior is known as passive-aggressive. Usually, passive-aggressive colleagues incorporate their feelings of annoyance into their workplace rather than raising issues in an open discussion.

An employee who is dissatisfied about having to come to work earlier, for instance, can purposely show up late rather than voice their concerns to their management. 

Shutting Of A Passive-Aggressive Colleague

In these cases, you might not agree with how they are approaching the situation. Here are some tips to deal with a passive-aggressive colleague.

1. Be Direct About The Situation

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You may be tempted to avoid communicating with a co-worker who is acting in a passive-aggressive manner when you become aware of it. However, if you don’t deal with the issue head-on, your passive-aggressive co-worker may act in that manner continuously, and your company will still be responsible for the effects of their behavior. 

Plan how you will approach your co-worker so that they won’t feel targeted and will speak freely with you in order to start having an effective discussion. You could also schedule a meeting with them in a conference room for a private session.

2. Identify Their Motive

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Co-workers may exhibit passive-aggressive behavior because they lack the skills to manage their emotions. But they may also do because they are motivated to do it. For instance, your department might have a vacancy for a job with a higher salary. Several co-workers may suddenly become competitive with one another and act passive-aggressively in an effort to advance their careers.

In these situations, understanding the motivations behind your teammates’ behavior might assist you in choosing the best course of action. You can choose to concentrate on carrying out your duties to the best of your ability until the circumstance passes. Or maybe address the situation by approaching your colleague and saying that the current stresses are adversely affecting the workplace.

3. Be Empathetic

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It is in your best interest to take into account if co-workers’ passive-aggressive behavior stems from them being irritated over a legitimate issue. If that’s the case, you might adopt a more sympathetic stance towards their behavior. This can be done by making an effort to understand why they’re finding it difficult to address their problem effectively. 

Even more so if you weren’t involved in the event, it can be difficult to link one occurrence to a person’s behavior. Therefore, try to refrain from making judgments before you have a better understanding of the circumstances.

4. Be The Wiser One

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Co-workers who use passive aggression usually do so to the majority of the members of the workplace. In other instances, they make it obvious who they are angry with. When a co-worker expresses dissatisfaction with you through passive-aggressive gestures, consider your own behavior to come up with logical explanations. 

Say if you have indeed done something inconsiderate, although your actions should not validate your co-worker’s behavior, you may now see why they are acting like that with you. If so, you would benefit from addressing and apologizing for your wrongdoings in addition to addressing your co-worker’s passive-aggressive behavior.

5. Conduct Conversation Forums

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If you hold a leadership role, you have a lot of power over how others raise problems and resolve them. Team members may not know how to communicate their opinions. So, they may choose to keep to themselves when there isn’t a formalized forum for doing so at work. This encourages more passive-aggressive behavior among team members. 

Examine the ways in which your company provides employees with the chance to voice their concerns in private. Make sure that everyone at the company is aware of it. To formally establish a procedure for communicating concerns, you might arrange more frequent one-on-one meetings. Whatever approaches you decide to take, it is imperative that you follow through on your plan for improved communication in the workplace.

Communication is always the key to every problem. If you have the will to stay silent but positive in the circumstances, they do so. But know that it will affect the company or your peace of going to work in the near future. Discover other signs of toxic behaviors in the workplace.