Workplace bullying is something that you might not even think about until you become a victim, whether it occurs together in a physical working environment or working remotely. Anyone can become a bully or become a victim of them. Bullying leads to all sorts of health concerns and stress problems, not to mention drops in productivity. You must know how to handle a workplace bully if you come across one. Here are some suggestions for how to deal with bullying at work.
1. Assess The Situation
The first thing you should do if you feel like you are being bulled is to assess the situation. Is there something you are doing that could be making things worse? It might be that you’ve done nothing to cause someone to attack you, which is almost always the case with bullying. Still, the point of doing this is to take stock of the situation and take responsibility if you feel your behavior has negatively affected others. This fresh perspective will help you determine what actions to take next.
Keep in mind that humans are flawed beings. We all make mistakes at some point. Reflect on the situation and determine if the bullying in question was just a one-time incident because someone was having a bad day. Perhaps the problem could be resolved by both of you letting things go and moving on.
2. Take Action Before You Feel the Negative Impact
Most people don’t want to come forward and speak up if they are getting bullied. They might be concerned about how other people will see them. If the bully is someone in a position of power, then their livelihood could possibly be at stake. No one wants to speak out against the boss. With that said, long-term bullying has a drastic negative impact on your overall wellbeing, which can lead to performance drops at work and affect your personal life. Put together an action plan to deal with the situation and take good care of yourself.
3. Talk to HR or Additional Resources in Management
If you don’t feel comfortable talking to the person who bullied you directly, then you should speak with human resources or your manager instead. Avoid playing the blame game if you do speak to someone else. Talk about how the situation has affected your well being, morale, and productivity, and discuss potential solutions.
4. Share your Experience
Do not keep these ongoing issues to yourself that you continuing to go through. The longer it goes on, the more it is likely to impact your mental health, your job, your sense of self worth and who you are as a person. Make an effort to share what has been happening with you and reach out to friends and family for support.
5. Don’t Take Things Personally
As difficult as it may be, you shouldn’t take bullying personally. It’s more about the person doing the bullying than the one taking it. Bullies often act out of insecurities and a need to control a situation. Practice healthy emotional boundaries not to let the things they say get to you and bring you down.
6. Address it Head-On
It may not always be comfortable or even possible, but you should always confront bullies head-on. Using phrases such as “please don’t talk to me that way” and “Let’s take a break” can help when dealing with people treating you inappropriately.
7. Leave if You Don’t Think Its Worth It
Nothing is more important than your health and wellbeing. Without it, you’re nothing at all. If you’ve done everything you can to resolve the situation, but the bullying persists, then you might want to consider switching departments – or maybe even getting a new job.
8. Document It All
Our last tip on handling workplace bullying is that you should always document your interactions with the other person. Not only does this create a timeline of events, but it also means you’ll have an easier time recalling information and important details. For example, if someone says that you aren’t doing your job correctly, email them and ask them to back up their claims so that you have a written record of what they said.