Interpersonal Communication- A Mindful Approach to Relationships, 2020a

Sixth, we have the intrusive harasser boss. This individual tends to be highly interfering and often wants to
get caught up in their subordinates’ personal and professional lives. They are likely to be overly attentive
in the workplace, which can interfere with an individual’s ability to complete their task assignments.
Furthermore, this boss is likely to be one who engages in activities like sexual harassment, backstabbing,
and busybody behavior.
Problem Coworkers
Through her research into coworkers, Harden Fritz has found that there are eight common types of
problematic coworkers: the adolescent, the bully, the mild annoyance, the independent self-promoter,
the pushy playboy or playgirl, the independent other, the soap opera star, and the the abrasive,
incompetent harasser.
The Adolescent
The first common problematic coworker is the adolescent. The adolescent is the Peter Pan of the
business world, they don’t want to grow up. These people tend to want to be the center of attention and
will be the first to let everyone know when they’ve accomplished something. You almost feel like you
need to give them a Scooby Snack just for doing their job. However, if someone dares to question them,
they tend to become very defensive, probably because they don’t want others to know how insecure they
feel.
The Bully
Second, we have the bully. This individual has a knack of being overly demanding on their peers, but
then dares to take credit for their peers’ work when the time comes. This is your prototypical schoolyard
bully all grown up and in an office job. In their 2005 study, Charlotte Rayner and Loraleigh Keashly
examined the available definitions for “workplace bullying” and determined five specific characteristics:
1. The experience of negative behavior;
2. Behaviors experienced persistently;
3. Targets experiencing damage;
4. Targets labeling themselves as bullied; and
5. Targets with less power and difficulty defending themselves. 70
You’ll notice from this list that being a bully isn’t a one-off behavior for these coworkers. This
behavior targets individuals in a highly negative manner, happens over a long period, and can have longterm
psychological and physiological ramifications for individuals who are targeted. We should note
that bullies do not happen in isolation, but more often than not run in packs. For this reason, a lot of
European research on this subject has been referred to as mobbing instead of bullying. Sadly, this is
an all-too-frequent occurrence in the modern work world. In a large study examining 148 international
corporations through both qualitative and quantitative methods, Randy Hodson, Vincent Roscigno, and
Steven Lopez report that 49% of the organizations they investigated had routine patterns of workplace
bullying. 71
The Mild Annoyance
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Interpersonal Communication