SINGAPORE: In an online post on Wednesday (Oct 16), an employee turned to Singaporeans for advice on how to deal with a passive-aggressive colleague, giving her the silent treatment in the office.
“I’ve realised even the subtle yet obvious signs someone isn’t quite fond of me make it hard to work with them,” she wrote.
“We had conflicts during a certain project where I made her life a little harder, but this is really because I’m new and still learning,” she gave context, adding this is her first ‘real job’.
“I thought people who have worked for years would be neutral and professional despite certain tension with colleagues during projects, and not be like how people were in secondary school giving you silent treatment…
But I guess I was wrong,” she opined.
The employee then added how her colleague’s behaviour changed, saying, “I thought the setback I’ve caused and me helping out the best I could put the tension behind us; we live and learn, right?
But it resulted in her ignoring me when I greeted her good morning or said goodbye and a cold shoulder when I attempted to make conversation.
I never did anything remotely off-putting or bad enough for her to do so besides the project where I made mistakes,” she explained.
The employee also took the opportunity to contrast her co-worker’s current behaviour with how she was before. “This wasn’t the case when I first entered,” she said.
“I quite enjoyed talking with her. I initially found my workplace healthy and ideal, and I was disappointed after getting the silent treatment. Out of everyone, she will be the one colleague I’ll have to work closely with.
What makes it more unbelievable is she is much older than I am and has even worked here since my early years of studying. I mean, I don’t take this personally…
I’m just left wondering if the future companies I might work with will possibly have these sorts of pettiness and if it’s normal in the workplace because I’m shocked.
This makes it so dreadful to go to work. How do you guys handle this kind of small thing at work?”
In response to the post, a handful acknowledged conflicts are pretty common in the workplace. Some suggested finding ways not to pay much attention to it.
One, however, hinted that “Bubble tea with a small note of thanks always helps.”
Featured image by Depositphotos (for illustration purposes only)