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The 25 Species of Coworkers
Alice Handley and Kayla Baxter | Excelle
The Shrinking Violet
What they do:
You’re pretty sure The Shrinking Violet works with you … but you can’t remember ever seeing them in meetings, and you definitely haven’t seen them at work-sponsored parties. That’s what The Shrinking Violet does best – disappear. You have the hardest time trying to get this person to talk, and you dread the day you’re actually assigned to work on a project with them because their communication skills are … well… nonexistent at best.How to deal:
It’s easy to label The Shrinking Violet as antisocial, unproductive, shy, or not a team player; however, it’s much, much more likely that The Shrinking Violet is simply introverted. Sure, The Shrinking Violet may not have ideas to share until after a meeting is over, but those ideas will invariably be well-thought-out and thorough. If they weren’t, The Shrinking Violet wouldn’t bother sharing them in the first place. There are many things you can learn from The Shrinking Violet — mostly to think before you speak, or before you judge.Are you a shrinking violet? Take the quiz!
kateperez
4 months ago
20 comments
What about the tattle-tale? That person sure can get you down! He/She can mis-perceive your silence as being rude when you are just busy and go crying to the supervisor. He/She can find anything to tell on you for, even the most benign stuff, and then YOU get called on the carpet.
What about the volatile personality? The one who will blow up just because you borrowed their thumb tack and forgot to return it. The simplest thing will set off this personality and you better watch out because that stapler that they borrowed is likely to come flying back over the cubicle wall to you.
DemonicButterfly
4 months ago
320 comments
I definitly see some past and present co-workers, and maybe even some small shades of myself on some of my not so good days. I would like to add one more however.. the "Pot Stirrer" the one that is never happy unless they are causing trouble for someone else. I have one of those right now at work. However in a way I suppose she has made me a better supervisor, I have to keep on my toes to stay ahead of the mind games and such.
CedarNeedles
5 months ago
2 comments
This is great and I see several co-workers in this lot. Buutt, there are so many more. Like the Unorganized manager who is always late for meetings, if they show up at all; and thats for the meetings they scheduled. The Internet cruiser who always seems to be on the internet, talking to a family member or im-ing a friend when you walk by their desk, and then you are asked to help them out since they just can't get everything done (and they get paid more than you to boot). Or the Aging Technocrat who still thinks DOS is the state of the art operating systems and has temper fits when you ask why he made the decision he did about something.
Account Removed
5 months ago
This is great. Some of these are my co-workers, too :D. Funny.
LaurieSheppard
5 months ago
12 comments
Truth is there are as many types as there are you and me, but there are some recognizable types - we just have to be careful not to "type-cast" them. (like the emoticons).
Laurie Sheppard @creatingatwill.com and @positivethinkingway.com
steph897
5 months ago
18 comments
I loved this article! It is nice to find the titles of the people you work with and have it explain. Very funny :)
psichick09
5 months ago
2 comments
This was great. I see a lot of my co-workers in them. However, one is missing. The know-it-all. And trust me, I have one at work that loves to let us know-it-all. Maybe I should deal with her as the talker...give them a time limit and walk away. ;)
l3wilso
5 months ago
202 comments
Great, but I have to agree why show management anything incriminating on a co-worker? That goes a little far and definitely makes it hard for others to trust you.
Becky_Regan
5 months ago
14 comments
Oh my gosh, I haven't laughed this hard in a long time. I could totally see some of my coworkers in this!
bethanierose
5 months ago
680 comments
I agreed with most of the advice except tips for dealing with the partier. Is it really necessary to take incriminating pictures of the partier, and to make sure Management sees them? Doesn't that kind of push you into the role of suck up? Other than that, I thought this was a great list of general office types to be mindful of.