Dealing with Irritating People

1)	Egotistical Ebert, who is sure he knows best and insists on his way even if his selfish demands will set others' work schedules back by days.

	Tell him exactly what you think of him and his stupid ideas.
	Ignore him and do things the way you always have.
	Let other projects be late and blame Ebert.

2)	Self-effacing Susie, who accepts all the grunge work and then responds to your thanks by demeaning her own efforts to the point where you want to gag, not admire her modesty.

	Don't thank her.
	Tell her you think her self-deprecating manner is an act and you are tired of it.
	Agree her work is bad and suggest she find herself an easier job elsewhere.

3)	Raucous Rita, whose loud voice and shrill laugh penetrate through your workspace constantly.

	Gag her.
	Lock her in an office with tapes of shrieking voices playing all around her.
	Wear earplugs.

4)	Complaining Connie, for whom every day is too hot or too cold, every job too hard or too easy (to be worthy of her), every coworker a schemer or a fool, etc., etc., etc.

	Change jobs to get away from her.
	Tell her you are sick of her complaints and you wish she'd just shut up.
	Convince her to take her complaint to the boss (who will shut her up fast).

5)	Proselytizing Pete, who forces you to listen to his opinions on politics, religion, and how to raise kids.

	Threaten to sue the company for violating your religious and political freedom if Pete doesn't leave you alone.
	Tell him to take his opinions and shove them.
	Just agree with him quickly so he'll leave you alone.

6)	Too-busy Tissue, who always backs out of team projects in midstream because she has "more important" work to do.

	Let Tissue's share stay undone, and make sure the boss knows why.
	Leave her out of team projects from the outset.
	Tell her just how loathsome she is for making commitments and not keeping them.

7)	Vacillating Victor, your boss who never lets you finish one task before changing his mind and deciding something else is more important.

	Tell him to make up his mind.
	Do nothing until deadlines force him to make up his mind.
	Finish nothing and let him suffer the consequences.

8)	Self-righteous Sam, who lets you know exactly what he would have done differently whenever a project you're handling runs into trouble.

	Turn the project over to him to solve.
	Tell him when you want his advice you'll ask for it.
	Thank him for his advice and ignore it.

9)	Procrastinating Polly, who leaves everything until the last minute and then begs you and your other co-workers to help her catch up.

	Refuse to help because you have deadlines of your own.
	Pretend to help but make sure you don't finish in time.
	Tell her it's her problem and it's time she learned to solve it.

10)

Embarrassing Effie -- with awkward manners, poor grammar, and inappropriate clothes -- who latches onto you at company events or when the gang gets together after work.

	Hang out with people she doesn't like.
	Tell her what she needs to do to improve.
	Send her an anonymous e-mail detailing her uncouth personal habits.

This quiz is about irritating people -- not evil, backstabbing, career-wrecking monsters -- just those who send us running to our friends with cries of "If I have to be around that creature one more minute I'll . . . ." You'll what? What would you like to do? For each irritating person described below, pick the response that is closest to your favorite fantasy. Your responses will lead to a set of suggestions for things you can do to influence your irritating co-workers to modify the behavior that's driving you nuts.

Click here to start this assessment!