If you lived (or are living) in a college while you were at uni, perhaps one of the most enduring lessons you learned during your college education is that life is too short to spend it surrounded by petty personality conflicts and the jerks who perpetuate them.  When you graduated, you had a great plan to travel to jerk-free territory and work in an annoying-free industry, but unfortunately annoying people and bullies are almost everywhere.

They are not just your inconsiderate, noisy, messy, belligerent, flatmates; you will find them almost anywhere you work.  Worst of all, sometimes they are your boss.

Working with annoying people can be a major source of stress, to say the least.  Relationship experts can give us a valuable education on how to deal with these type of characters at work, where we can’t just avoid them.  Psychologist Guy Winch says that when someone who is normally easy to get along with but suddenly starts acting like a jerk, the person is probably upset about a problem that has nothing to do with you, so Winch recommends responding with kindness.

 “Respond with kindness”

When it comes to dealing with an infuriating customer, both Winch and consultant Lynn Taylor recommend grinning and bearing it.  A truly dissatisfied customer will take his or her business elsewhere; one who is actually complaining about a problem, will be grateful that you listened to his or her complaint and solved the problem.  If you work in a business that deals with clients on a long-term business, you and your co-workers should approach the client in the following way:  Warn your co-workers about his/her character, be polite, and spend as little time with him/her as possible.

If the person wants to complain endlessly, keep proposing solutions to show your professionalism, willingness to help, and unwillingness to listen to endless tirades.  When you are stuck with an annoying co-worker, try to build a good relationship with him or her, even though that might sound more difficult than travelling to Mars.  If you have to deal with a difficult boss, talk to your boss about the problem, rather than complaining to his or her supervisors.