As an employee, how can you deal with the colleagues and managers who have a bad attitude and communication issues?

Step1   Make the distinction between bad attitudes and bad behaviors. Attitudes are, after all, subjective; what seems like an attitude problem to one person may not seem all that bad to another. Complicating the matter even more is the fact that it's nearly impossible to document an attitude, and documenting instances of employee behaviors is the key to correcting them. Instead, determine how an employee's bad attitude is contributing to bad behaviors that are easy to describe and document. For instance, an employee's attitude may seem insubordinate but actual examples of insubordination, such as refusing work assignments, are needed for documentation.     Step2  

Document instances of the employee's bad behavior, or instruct management affected to do so. Include dates, times, any other employees who were present/involved, and the details of the incident, including any supporting documentation, such as emails or memos sent by the employee. If the employee's behavior is a violation of any organizational policy, refer to that policy and limit the documentation to these details only. For example, if an employee refuses to work on an assigned project, documentation should include the date and time the refusal happened, a description of what the employee said or, if the communication was written, a copy of the email/memo.

 

Step3  

Share your documentation with other members of management or human resources if you are the manager involved in the documented incidents. Allowing other management or HR employees to view the situation with an unbiased eye can help you to determine whether action is needed.

 

Step4   Schedule a meeting with the employee to discuss documented incidences of bad behavior. If the documented instances involve one member of management specifically that is not you, sit in on the meeting. If you are the member of management involved, include HR or another member of management. Including an uninvolved third party in the meeting can defuse a difficult situation, while also protecting the member of management from claims of discrimination or harassment by the employee with the attitude problem.     Step5   Discuss the documented incidents of bad behavior with the employee impartially. Assume that the employee wants to improve and change. Explain how the documented behaviors impact the organization, outline the consequences if the behaviors violated policy, and ask the employee what he or she would like to do to remedy the situation.   Step6   Develop a plan for change, with the assistance of the employee. Give the employee a specific amount of time to enact the steps of the plan, and set a time to reassess the situation after the time period is up. Let the employee know what the outcome will be if the steps for the plan are not enacted, and if no change is observed.