It’s a known and accepted fact that people have different personalities and attitudes. And in the workplace, you should be mindful of the different personalities that surround you, as there are different ways of dealing with them. Let’s talk about A-type personalities. What are their noticeable characteristics and how should you deal with them? Here are five recognizable ones.

1. Time is gold. Type A persons always see everything as urgent. Urgency seems to run through their veins. They do not like waiting and they easily get annoyed when you make them wait. So to avoid a Type-A ranting, strive hard not to come late if you’re dealing with an A-type personality. Think of it as good habit formation; after all, being early is one thing professionals should put into practice.

2. Complete the sentence. If it takes you time to finish a sentence, they usually do it for you. Type A people are usually fond of taking the word out of your mouth, especially when you pause to gather your thoughts to present a coherent idea. They usually want ideas to be articulated fast. When dealing with this attitude, you can actually acknowledge them for helping you out or if you feel they are already interfering, you can discuss the issue with them in private. Try to lend a light note to the situation and don’t make too much of a big deal of it.

3. Competitive. A-type persons are usually seen as achievers; being competitive is second nature to them. There’s nothing wrong with that as long as they do not step on other people’s toes. You should watch that you don’t compromise any of your own goals just to give way to Type-A people’s ambitions. A little competition can’t hurt and may even be good for them.

4. Aggressive. They are usually impatient, especially with mistakes. Their strong character and “achiever” nature make them come across as aggressive and pushy when they want something done – and done right! When you’re with a Type A person, do not match their aggressiveness by being equally aggressive yourself. This will just agitate them further. Try to be assertive with as much calm as you can muster and maintain the balance in the atmosphere.

5. Stress junkie. Because they are achievers, Type A’s are usually prone to stress. They can easily get frazzled by small problems. Moreover, the stressful condition may rub off to those around them, which can be unhealthy for everyone; especially if they spread themselves too thinly (which is a great possibility). You can do your part to ease things up by trying to be friendly and inviting them for coffee or night-out sometimes. Think of it as your contribution to keeping the workplace from miserable doom.

A working place will definitely become more conducive and enjoyable if we learn how to get along with different types of people. As an employee, you should also make efforts to blend with other people and foster harmonious working relationships with them.

Tags: job, job tips, jobs, new job, Personal Branding, professional

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 7th, 2010 at 5:39 pm and is filed under Free Advice. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.