I have a coworker who is a control freak. And I’m not talking about just wanting to have things done a certain way, I mean she wants to control every aspect of everything we do in the office. At first, it was amusing. But as time went on, her behavior became more and more frustrating.
Here are just a few of the situations I found myself in with my control-freak coworker:
- The Office Layout: My coworker decided that the office layout wasn’t working and decided to completely rearrange everything. We came in on a Monday morning to find our desks in completely different places, and everything else moved around. She even moved our water cooler, which was just ridiculous.
- The Meetings: My coworker has to have a meeting for everything. Even the smallest tasks require a meeting to discuss how we’re going to do it. And of course, she has to lead every meeting, and dictate every detail of what’s going to happen.
- The Procedures: My coworker insists that every procedure be done exactly her way. She even made a binder with detailed instructions on how to do everything. And if anyone deviates from her way, she freaks out and insists that we do it her way.
Dealing with my control freak coworker was becoming unbearable. It seemed like she was taking all the fun out of work. I wasn’t sure what to do. Should I confront her and tell her to chill out? Should I just ignore her and hope she would back off? Or should I try to accommodate her needs?
I decided to try to accommodate her needs, but also try to find some humor in the situation. I started to make jokes about her control freak tendencies, and it seemed to lighten the mood. I even started to make a game out of it, seeing how far I could push her before she would freak out.
It wasn’t a perfect solution, but it worked. I was able to find some humor in the situation, and it helped me to deal with her behavior. If you find yourself in a similar situation, my advice is to try to find some humor in the situation. Don’t take it too seriously, and try to accommodate your coworker’s needs, but not to the point where it’s affecting your work. And most importantly, remember to take a deep breath and laugh it off.