{"id":8108,"date":"2020-05-06T16:41:52","date_gmt":"2020-05-06T16:41:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.monsterindia.com\/career-advice\/how-to-respond-when-a-colleague-is-sabotaging-your-work-8108\/"},"modified":"2023-09-28T08:16:04","modified_gmt":"2023-09-28T02:46:04","slug":"how-to-respond-when-a-colleague-is-sabotaging-your-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.foundit.sg\/career-advice\/how-to-respond-when-a-colleague-is-sabotaging-your-work\/","title":{"rendered":"How to respond when a colleague is sabotaging your work"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"How<\/span><\/p>\n

If you often find yourself going into defence mode at work \u2013 not getting the credit you deserve, needing to justify what you do, or getting left in the lurch \u2013 you are likely a victim of workplace sabotage.<\/span><\/p>\n

Unfortunately, as such attempts can come across subtly, there\u2019s often no way of telling someone is actually trying to sabotage you. So, how can you really find out if you\u2019re being sabotaged? Or if maybe you\u2019re just overly sensitive?<\/span><\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a list of things you can do to deal with the matter:<\/span><\/p>\n

Keep a record of how often this happens<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

When encountering unpleasant situations, our minds tend to stretch these experiences to make us believe they go on for longer than they really did. When trying to remember the frequency of such occurrences, your gut feeling is probably the last thing you should rely on, which means that a physical record will be helpful in this instance. It can be as simple as noting down how often this happens in a week or month. If it\u2019s getting too much for you to ignore, you can always point back to the records to justify your claim.<\/span><\/p>\n

Do a self-check<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

These instances of sabotage rarely ever mean you had no part to play. If you\u2019ve ever wondered why your colleague has picked you as a target, consider assessing yourself inwardly<\/a>. What could have triggered your colleague\u2019s behavior? Could there have been a potential misunderstanding between the both of you? If so, make the step and try to sort it out.<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s not always on purpose<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Everyone is learning and growing in their career journey<\/a>. As much as you might think your colleague is out to get you, never discount the possibility that their behavior is unintentional. Be a good leader and help your young colleague to learn to ropes.<\/span><\/p>\n

Take it up with your colleague<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

If you find the sabotage slowly becoming a bottleneck for you and your work, and you know the perpetrator is the same person each time, it might be time to speak to that colleague. Bearing in mind that you do not want to create unneeded tension at work, the key is to keep the conversation positive and professional.<\/span><\/p>\n

Say that you have noticed a recurring challenging behavior. Don\u2019t be confrontational, but ask if there could have been a misunderstanding between the two of you that resulted in this situation. If at any point you think you might lose your cool, it\u2019s best to step out of the conversation and clear your mind. Acting out of anger never ends well.<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Escalate the matter to a superior<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

When push comes to shove and a peaceful and professional settlement isn\u2019t an option anymore, then it\u2019s probably time you highlight the matter to your manager. Ideally, you have mentioned this matter before, but with the intention to sort it out yourself. Your conversations with your manager should be kept confidential and civil, and a good manager will know the best approach towards conflict resolution.<\/span><\/p>\n

Don\u2019t spend your days thinking about minor issues. Take a step back and try to look objectively at the matter.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you often find yourself going into defence mode at work \u2013 not getting the credit you deserve, needing to justify what you do, or getting left in the lurch \u2013 you are likely a victim of workplace sabotage. Unfortunately, as such attempts can come across subtly, there\u2019s often no way of telling someone is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8109,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-8108","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-second-career-options"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.foundit.sg\/career-advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8108","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.foundit.sg\/career-advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.foundit.sg\/career-advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.foundit.sg\/career-advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.foundit.sg\/career-advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8108"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.foundit.sg\/career-advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8108\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20718,"href":"https:\/\/www.foundit.sg\/career-advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8108\/revisions\/20718"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.foundit.sg\/career-advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8109"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.foundit.sg\/career-advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8108"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.foundit.sg\/career-advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8108"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.foundit.sg\/career-advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8108"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}