Best ways to deal with workplace aggression

By Cody Hodge, Helium.com

Have you been the victim of someone who has been too aggressive with you at work? There are always going to be people who take the job way too seriously, or are really competitive at the workplace. Whether the aggression has to do with being a physical bully, or just being aggressive towards getting things done at work, you should know that there are ways you can mitigate the aggression that comes your way.

The first thing you need to do is to learn to stand up for yourself. As I said, there will always be people that are going to be bullies, or try to push themselves on you. This is no different from the bully at the playground, or the teacher that didn’t like you. There are always going to be times when you are going to have to fight for yourself. So, learn to stand up for yourself and push back if need be.

Use politics to get this person to back off, or group of people to back off. This is a great tactic because if one person is being aggressive toward you, it means that they are most likely being aggressive toward others as well. While it might take some time for this tactic to work out for you, it works out really well toward the end. You end up being the leader of the resistance, so to speak, and you usually end up with the aggressor calming down.

Kill the aggression with kindness. Instead of getting upset at the boss for making you work harder, or the workplace bully for being a jerk, go ahead and just go with the flow if you can. Sometimes the boss doesn’t realize that he is being too aggressive and might even apologize for the mistake and change his ways. Sometimes the office bully just wanted to be heard, and wasn’t sure how to be heard unless he shouted the loudest at you.

When people are being aggressive toward you, you can always go to a manager if you don’t feel comfortable with what is going on around you. If you don’t think there is a chance of someone changing after you clearly asked them to stop being so rude, you can always tell HR about it. While going to HR is typically the last thing you want to do, it can be an effective tool to stop bullies at work.

Aggression at work is always going to happen because of what is at stake. Career advancement, pride, control of the office and other factors contribute to people being aggressive at work. You have two choices: You can take that aggression and become a victim, or you can fight back and make things a little more tolerable for yourself.