Bullies Bullying Person Make Things Co Workers Work Workplace

Many people experience "conflict" (fights; arguments; differences of opinion) at work, but sometimes it "crosses the line" (goes beyond the limits of something) and becomes workplace "bullying" (persistent, aggressive behavior that makes another person feels unimportant or worthless). Many researchers have agreed on five main types of bullying behaviors:

1. Bullies may try to "undermine" (make something weaker or less important) their co-workers' professional status, making them seem "incompetent" (unable to do their job well), "unintelligent" (not smart), or "flaky" (not reliable or dependable).

2. Bullies may try to attack their co-workers on a personal level, saying mean or unkind things about them, calling them names, or making inappropriate jokes.

3. Bullies may try to "isolate" (make someone feel alone) their co-workers, ignoring them or preventing information from reaching them so that they do not feel they are part of the team.

4. Bullies may assign "excess" (too much) work to their co-workers, putting them under a lot of stress to meet difficult or impossible "deadlines" (dates and times when things are due and must be submitted), possibly while "interrupting" (doing things to make another person temporarily stop what he or she is doing) them.

5. Bullies may "destabilize" their co-workers, refusing to recognize when they do something well, "delegating" (giving someone responsibility for completing a task) unimportant work, or even changing the goals of a project without telling the person who is being bullied.

Unfortunately, it can be difficult to "prove" (make it clear that something is happening by providing evidence) these bullying behaviors, because the bullies are often able to do them within the "confines" (bounds; limits) of "corporate culture" (the accepted behaviors within a company). They often act very differently around their "superiors" (managers; the people to whom one reports) and the individuals whom they are bullying.