Bosses and Coworkers

Showing 28 articles

Career Development

How to Identify and Deal with Workplace Bullying

By Venus Gentile, Monster Contributor

Do you ever find yourself dreading the workday before it even begins? It’s not always the big, obvious moments that weigh on you. Sometimes, it’s the subtle, persistent things—being left out of meetings, having your ideas brushed aside, or feeling like you’re constantly undermined. This is what workplace bullying can look like, and its effects are ...

Career Development

How to Deal with Difficult Coworkers

By Kathleen Walder and Marlot Heerink-Martin

Do you have a colleague who constantly interrupts? Or someone who never finishes their tasks on time? Difficult coworkers can create a stressful environment. Working with irritating colleagues while remaining positive and productive isn't always easy. Keep reading to learn how to deal with difficult coworkers and make your (work) life more positive...

Career Development

Conflict Resolution in The Workplace: Everything You Need to Master it

By Jennifer Verta, Monster Contributor

Conflict resolution in the workplace is an art that’s important to learn sooner rather than later. The nature of being human means we’re bound to deal frequently with misunderstandings, frictions, and conflicts. And, since many of us spend large parts of our lives at work, these things happen there as well. It’s not as bad as it sounds, though. ...

Career Development

How to Deal With Competitive Work Colleagues

By Isabel Thottam, Monster contributor

There’s nothing like the thrill of competing with your work nemesis to bring out your best performance. Without someone to chase and outperform, would you be as motivated? A little friendly competition never hurt anyone, right? But when a rivalry goes too far, you need to know how to deal with competitive work colleagues. An international poll c...

Career Development

7 Tips for Mastering Remote Management

By Kathleen Walder, Monster Contributor

More Canadians than ever are working from home due to the impact of the coronavirus COViD-19. As such, it is crucial to keep in mind that your remote boss might have a different set of expectations when managing from afar. In fact, most managers would deny having two sets of “rules” for how they manage their team. In reality, managing remote res...

Career Development

How to be a Champion of Diversity in the Workplace

By Venus Gentile, Monster Contributor

Diversity in the workplace has become an increasingly important topic within the employment landscape. But it's not just about numbers, policies, and agendas. It’s about creating an inclusive environment where everyone feels valued, respected, and empowered to contribute their unique perspective and ideas. Diversity goes beyond stereotypes to give ...

Career Development

How to Impress Your Boss

By Kathleen Walder, Monster Contributor

It can be a fine line. You want to figure out how to impress your boss, but you don’t want to look insincere or be seen as a suck-up by your co-workers. There are concrete benefits to knowing how to impress your boss. When you’re on the boss’s “A-list,” you’re more likely to be assigned high-profile projects that will help advance your career. Y...

Career Development

How to score points at your company's holiday party

By Monster Contributor

Dreading the company’s holiday party is a December ritual. Except it’s also an excellent time to sneak in some self-advancement. All the important players will be there. Even if you hate insincerity, attend strategically and score some points. Skipping the event could backfire Your employer’s gone to the expense of planning and paying for th...

Career Development

How To Be A Ruthless (But Not Evil) Employee

There's a difference between goal-oriented pursuits and outright ruthlessness. Ruthless people litter pop culture. Can hardly stream a channel or mime a meme without cruel themes. And those infernal reality shows? Competition-crushing opponents pitilessly – is the constant goal. Except at work brutal treachery can backfire. Violates a code of co...

Career Development

When Working For a Narcissist

By Monster Contributor

By Mark Swartz They constantly boast about their accomplishments. Are quick to berate people in public. And do anything to deflect criticism – by lying outrageously or pinning blame on the innocent. Those are just some of the perils of working for a narcissist. In the extreme, these traits (and others described below) may describe someone who h...

Career Development

How to Stop Enabling A Lazy Coworker

By Monster Contributor

By Mark Swartz It’s 5:00 p.m. and you’re itching to finish for the day. What’s holding you up? A colleague is late again delivering their part of the project. You don’t want your team to fall behind. So you grudgingly offer to complete your coworker’s task, one more time. This workmate’s becoming a problem. Three instances this month they haven...

Career Development

Biggest Pet Peeves in the Office

By Monster Contributor

By Joe Issid It’s time to vent a little. Even the most tolerant and patient person can be driven to madness when forced to share an office with a loud eater or someone who doesn’t bathe frequently enough. We are perhaps driven to exasperation because we feel powerless against these forces, conditioned to believe that we can’t change who w...

Career Development

Sociopath at Work: How to Protect Yourself

By Monster Contributor

“My co-worker’s a real psychopath.” That sort of complaint is heard daily in workplaces. Usually it’s said about colleagues and bosses who explode with rage, or are suspiciously silent yet delight in ruining other people’s days. In reality having psychopathy – or its close relative sociopathy – is a form of mental illness that affects about ...

Career Development

Tips for Complaining to Your Boss at Work

By Monster Contributor

By Mark Swartz It happens when you’re overlooked for a promotion. Or when you are told to work extra hours without added pay. Resentment builds and you’re dying to air your grievance. If you’re a unionized employee there’s a process for this. But griping to management is ripe with risk for regular workers. There is an art to complaining so tha...

Career Development

Giving a Negative Peer Review

By Monster Contributor

There are few processes in the modern workforce that are met with more derision than performance reviews. As both an employer and employee I can attest to having sat through dozens of them over the years. Truth be told, I have remained somewhat ambivalent towards the effectiveness of the traditional performance review. And by “traditional”, I am re...

Career Development

Getting Blamed When It Wasn't Your Fault

By Monster Contributor

By Mark Swartz There was a foul-up at work. Somehow you got wrongly blamed for it. Now your frustration is stoked. It’s your reputation at risk, after all. No matter that this is unfair. Being wrongfully accused puts you in a bind. What if you can’t clear your name? Remain calm. There are steps you can promptly take to manage things. There’s li...

Career Development

Coping With Death in the Workplace

By Monster Contributor

By Mark Swartz The death of a colleague hits hard. Shock and grief rise quickly. People are processing the news and reflecting on the deceased. What if you were close to that colleague and need to mourn their loss? Meanwhile your own deadline pressures aren’t going away. Taking time to grieve and honour the departed can help you deal with your...

Career Development

How to Handle Micromanaging Bosses

By Steve Mahoney

Working with a micromanaging boss can make your workplace a very stressful place. Micromanagers feel the need to control every minute detail obsessively. They need to tell you how to do something you're perfectly capable of doing, and they hover over you as you work, waiting for a moment to critique any and all imperfect moves. Added to the s...

Career Development

Is Friendship & Work a Dangerous Combination?

By Monster Contributor

By Karin Eldor Monster Contributing Writer Partnering up with a good friend might sound like an ideal scenario, right? You know each other well, you trust each other, and you enjoy each other’s company. Just look at former classmates and friends Larry Page and Sergey Brin, who founded Google. They beat the odds – a far cr...

Career Development

Pros and Cons of Working With Your Spouse

By Monster Contributor

By Joe Issid Monster Contributing Writer Considering the immense amount of time we spend at work, it seems somewhat inevitable that we end up marrying someone with whom we share an office. Case in point: my wife and I, much like the Obamas, met at work and were married within a few short years. And ours is not an unusual story. A 2012 study from...

Career Development

Q&A: Whistleblowing On A Dishonest Employer

By Monster Contributor

By Mark Swartz Monster Contributing Writer Most employers don’t commit highly dishonest or criminal deeds. Even those that do may be acting unintentionally. But if you become aware that your company is behaving corruptly – especially in ways that could be harmful to customers, employees or investors – you face a dilemma. If you report wh...

Career Development

The Case Of The Vanishing Co-Worker

By Monster Contributor

By Aisha Newton Monster Contributing Writer The case of the vanishing co-worker is a curious tale. One minute they are sitting at their desk. The next thing you know, they have disappeared like a sock in the dryer. Nobody knows where they’ve gone. It’s safe to say that most employees have encountered this issue. When it comes to disappearing ...

Career Development

My Co-Workers Hate Me!

By Monster Contributor

By Joe Issid Monster Contributing Writer Your spouse will tell you everyone is jealous of you; your mother will tell you it is all in your head; your grandfather will tell you to suck it up and you don’t need to be popular to succeed at work. While there may be an element of truth in all of their advice, the fact is no one can determine the severi...

Career Development

Should You Recommend Friends At Work?

By Monster Contributor

By Mark Swartz Monster Contributing Writer A job becomes open where you work. Your first thought is: "I know the perfect person for that role." You have a friend of yours in mind. She's got just the right mix of experience and skills. And she's asked you to keep an eye out if something good comes up. Now's the moment of truth. Your company offers...

Career Development

How to Handle a Bad Boss

By Monster Contributor

By Mark Swartz Monster Senior Contributing Writer Does your boss rub his hands gleefully and lecture you if you’re two minutes late? Does she steal your ideas and take full credit for all the work you’ve done? Bad bosses can be found at any level – from Assistant Supervisor to CEO. If you report to a micro-managing perfectionist or angry expl...

Career Development

10 Things You Can't Tell Your Boss

By Monster Contributor

By Amanda Frank Monster Contributing Writer I’ve reported to a lot of people over the years. And during that time I’ve told my boss things I should have perhaps kept to myself. Divulging too much inner dialogue isn’t always the best career move. You want to nurture the image your boss had of you when deciding to bring you on board. You do need ...

Career Development

Love in the office

By Monster Contributor

By Emma V. Romantic office relationships are the most stressful romances going.... but they needn’t be. As long as you keep a few pointers in mind the year’s worst office scandal could be the year’s most successful test of communication. Familiarizing yourself with company policy on office romances is the key to more harmonious communicat...

Career Development

How to Communicate with Your Supervisor

By Monster Contributor

Good communication with your supervisor is important to both of you. There are five important aspects to remember when communicating with your supervisor: You must be able to follow instructions. You need to know how to ask questions. You should report any problems and results of your work. You should accurately record and give messages to yo...