No one wants to be ignored, especially at work. We spend most of our time in the office with many different people.
Conflicts can happen from time to time, but when someone openly ignores you, it can significantly reduce your productivity level and increase stress levels instead. Don’t let it negatively affect your wellbeing, though.
Here are a few tips for dealing with coworkers who ignore you that will surely help you maintain a positive attitude and high productivity all day long.
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1. Realize That Toxic People Will Always Be Toxic
No matter what you do, you’ll never please toxic people. Just perceive them as they are. Just because they’re ignoring you doesn’t mean something is wrong with you.
It’s about them, not you. Maybe they envy you or they want your position. Don’t allow their toxic actions and thoughts to ruin your day and wellbeing.
In this situation, you can simply do what they’ve been doing to you: ignore them.
Ignoring toxic individuals will give you peace of mind and allow you to perform at your best without damaging your great Monday mood. Thus, learn to block them out when they start showing their toxicity at work.
2. Confront Them
If you’ve always had good relationships with your coworkers and today you’ve noticed that they’re avoiding and ignoring you, talk to them.
As adults, you shouldn’t hold grudges. If several coworkers ignore you at the same time, you can confront them all or talk to them one by one to figure out the reason.
Be friendly and polite and say something like, “I’m sorry, could you tell me why you’ve been ignoring me today?” In most cases, a calm and frank talk solves any problem happening in the office.
This will also teach you to confront issues head on so that you will know where you went wrong. Sometimes we act the way we do without giving things a second thought and fail to realize that we already hurt someone.
This will become an eye-opening experience for you.
3. Avoid Playing the Blame Game
One of the hardest things to do when dealing with coworkers who ignore you is avoiding blaming them or yourself for the situation. Give them time and see what happens next. Don’t mirror their behavior.
If one coworker instigates others to ignore you, don’t blame them. Be polite and do your job.
Being in a workplace, we should always be mature in handling any situation that might come down. This is because we are old enough to understand right from wrong and old enough to know that some things don’t always require a reaction.
Sometimes, silence is the best answer to personal attacks.
4. Analyze the Situation
When others ignore you, it’s critical to be fair with yourself first. Analyze the situation and find out the root cause of the conflict.
If you did something wrong and you believe it triggered the situation, don’t be afraid to acknowledge what you did wrong.
Talk about it with your coworkers and apologize for your mistakes. Your colleagues will appreciate it and treat you better in the future.
Even if the coworker doesn’t forgive you, you should feel a great sense of relief, knowing that you have taken an honest look at the situation as a whole and your role within it.
5. Show Respect
In many cases, when one coworker ignores another coworker, the last one starts gossiping and complaining about the first one.
Gossip and complaints will only fuel the fire and create more problems in the office. If you’re a highly sensitive person, it might be difficult to handle when your coworkers ignore you. It’s their choice, though.
Respect their opinions and show respect towards them. At first, it may seem like you’re showing signs of weakness, but in reality, you’re showing how mature and wise you are. Over time, they’ll start respecting you in return.
They won’t have a reason to disrespect or ignore you anymore.
It’s also important to keep your cool at all times and not give in to the urge to lash out at the other person.
6. Find Mutual Interests
Learn more information about the coworkers who ignore you. Maybe they’re introverted or they’re in grief. Or maybe they don’t know you well enough to talk to you.
Once you find out more information about them, you can find some mutual interests or hobbies you share. Don’t do it on purpose, though.
If you genuinely have some interests in common, they’ll most likely loosen up and will start inviting you for a cup of coffee during lunch. What can be more pleasurable than talking to someone who shares your hobbies or interests?
7. Offer Help
Do you often see them having trouble using the coffee machine or the office copier? Or do they have difficulty completing a project? Try and help them.
It might hurt your ego, but helping others will pay off. Not to mention that by helping them, you’ll show that you can support anyone during hard times, even if they ignore you.
At the same time, more people will appreciate you and realize that all you ever had from the start was good intentions. Thus, people will start loosening up and will trust you more at work, shrugging off past problems under the rug.
8. Talk to a Manager
Involving a manager in your conflict with coworkers is a drastic measure. However, if they keep up their bad behavior, you should talk to your manager or boss immediately.
Outline the facts and problems that you have with certain coworkers who ignore you. Explain to them possible reasons for the conflict and suggest a solution.
Control your emotions, and ensure you don’t blame anyone while defending yourself. All your manager should know about is the problem itself and the negative effects this problem has on the team’s productivity.
9. Become a More Interesting Person
If you’re the one spreading gossip during a coffee break or squealing on everyone to your manager, it’s no wonder others ignore you.
However, rather than wasting your time on gossip, practice personal growth or read a book. You can also tell office-friendly jokes if you want. Interesting people are rarely ignored, so why not become one yourself?
Explore things that interest you – especially those you have been wanting to try but have been putting off for so long. Stop making excuses, and do more things that will improve your personal growth.
10. Respect and Love Yourself
Finally, it’s critical to respect and love yourself in the first place. There are situations when you can give in to tame the conflict.
If it hurts your self-esteem or dignity and your supervisor fails to help you solve the problem, it’s probably a sign that you should quit your job.
If you tried to follow the tips mentioned above and they keep ignoring you, there’s a better place waiting for you. Think about your health, family, and wellbeing, and don’t let toxic people ruin your daily life.
If your coworkers ignore you, try to find out the reason and solve the problem immediately. Avoid ignoring them in return and don’t suppress your emotions and feeling of resentment or unfairness.
After all, people are different and each of us has our drawbacks.
It’s impossible to work in a toxic environment where your coworkers openly disrespect you, though. Over time, it will negatively impact your mental and physical health.
