Workplace drama?

[Amphetamine Salts]

there are people at work or at any job that are absolutely crazy. like, they are nuts. if something happens, they will become visceral and insane. they don't know how to or are unable to work with people. it's like ego wars, always wanting to "one up" or be "on top" in a situation. it's really weird, and cringe worthy. granted, i sometimes fall victim to this, but i realize that it's very bad when it happens and should be avoided. but when you have two people engaging in an ego-ic war, and both don't understand or don't care that they are doing it, then the situation is cringey

how do you deal with someone or people that have their head so far up their ass that they can't see light? that they are willing to sacrifice team morale for their own ego-ic desires and impulsive reactions? i think it's very hard to come across a warm workplace. there will always be a couple of **** stains, varying in terms of severity, that **** it up for some people

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[TheBlaah]

Do you have a more specific example? I can't really tell what they're doing based on your description.

Also, calling them, even in your own head, "absolutely crazy", "nuts", "visceral and insane" probably doesn't help things. Maybe they are, but I would try to empathize a little if you wish to resolve this.

 

[gwarm01]

I tend to treat people like this in a very dismissive manner. I don't have the time or energy to play these little games with people.

This doesn't work if they can pull rank.

 

[Amphetamine Salts]

Do you have a more specific example? I can't really tell what they're doing based on your description.

Also, calling them, even in your own head, "absolutely crazy", "nuts", "visceral and insane" probably doesn't help things. Maybe they are, but I would try to empathize a little if you wish to resolve this.

you can't really "resolve" it. it's like a behavioral thing. certain people just have bad knee jerk tendencies. you can't call them out on it because they will never listen. legit the only way for them to be introspective is for them to determine it on their own, as a co-worker it's impossible to facilitate something like that. if you're a manager though and can threaten to fire them then you have more capability. but as a co-worker, you have essentially nothing

some examples would be: always wanting to talk back, almost never willing to surrender their stance, not being team oriented, etc

these are mainly behavioral things. they aren't damaging to disrupt the entire workflow, but they lower morale. i believe stuff like this will always exist, it's just how you deal with it

it's not something you can "report" to management because either A) it could backfire on you or B) it may not be seen as severe enough to result in anything. so the easiest thing to do is to just brush it off and continue working.

 

[Wickett]

Don't feed the troll, people. I fed him/her plenty in the past.

 

[owlegrad]

Don't feed the troll, people. I fed him/her plenty in the past.

Oh come on, you know you want to know which of their coworkers is doing it and why. You want ALL the details, admit it!

Or maybe I am just projecting?

 

[mentos]

I recommend making them cry like @owlegrad does

 

[Wickett]

Oh come on, you know you want to know which of their coworkers is doing it and why. You want ALL the details, admit it!

Or maybe I am just projecting?

I would be interested, but it is the same ole crap (SO AND SO HAS STICK UP BUTT/IS CRAZY, etc).

 

[PharmtoCS]

Projection much?

 

[JustFillIt]

there are people at work or at any job that are absolutely crazy. like, they are nuts. if something happens, they will become visceral and insane. they don't know how to or are unable to work with people. it's like ego wars, always wanting to "one up" or be "on top" in a situation. it's really weird, and cringe worthy. granted, i sometimes fall victim to this, but i realize that it's very bad when it happens and should be avoided. but when you have two people engaging in an ego-ic war, and both don't understand or don't care that they are doing it, then the situation is cringey

how do you deal with someone or people that have their head so far up their ass that they can't see light? that they are willing to sacrifice team morale for their own ego-ic desires and impulsive reactions? i think it's very hard to come across a warm workplace. there will always be a couple of **** stains, varying in terms of severity, that **** it up for some people

Dude let me be the first to say that your the one who is nuts...

 

[mentos]

I thought OP's job was Netflix and chill?

 

[meltyblend]

I thought OP's job was Netflix and chill?

It stop being chill a month in. You know, like all his other jobs.

I need to start checking who made the post before I click from now on.

 

[rxkrafted]

I have a feeling OP got criticized for Netflix and chillin on the job and wants people on this forum to take his side to make himself feel better lol.

 

[projektreverb]

Glad to see Netflix and Chill finally came crashing down on you.

In tomorrow’s episode: OP gets a negative performance review.

Tune in next week for his boss conspiring to get rid of OP!

 

[gwarm01]

I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt because I have absolutely worked with insane pharmacists before. I can think of one or two egomaniacs who were completely delusion and considered themselves better than everyone else, yet were also kind of a joke with the medical staff. Probably only fueled their weird inferiority complex in the pharmacy.

I can also think of at least one absolute sociopath who would conspire to take people down, purposefully orchestrate events or say things to hurt people, and took joy in causing fear and anxiety among the staff. I'm glad I got on their good side.

edit: sounds like I was missing some context but I'll keep my posts up for more general audiences to read

Moving from a toxic work environment into a healthy one was probably the best thing I ever did to relieve stress. So much so that I'm now almost afraid to roll the dice if I wanted to change positions.

 

[projektreverb]

I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt because I have absolutely worked with insane pharmacists before. I can think of one or two egomaniacs who were completely delusion and considered themselves better than everyone else, yet were also kind of a joke with the medical staff. Probably only fueled their weird inferiority complex in the pharmacy.

I can also think of at least one absolute sociopath who would conspire to take people down, purposefully orchestrate events or say things to hurt people, and took joy in causing fear and anxiety among the staff. I'm glad I got on their good side.

Except OP almost got fired from Walgreens, which is a hard feat to achieve...

 

[mentos]

Except OP almost got fired from Walgreens, which is a hard feat to achieve...

Within 3-6 months if I recall correctly. He also had the same "talking to" at his current job within 3 months. Both times, OP was right and his supervisors just had a stick up their ass.

 

[lord999]

Except OP almost got fired from Walgreens, which is a hard feat to achieve...

Although we should give @gwarm01 the benefit of the doubt that he's addressing non-trolls as well 🙂. I have similar stories except sadder ones. The management stories I tell students are that you have no ability to win a war against a manager that made it his or her job to mess with you. They have more resources and are willing to be more aggressive.

Recent example:

https://webcache.googleusercontent..../+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us[/URL]"]Get Access

And his predecessor, who I knew personally to be notoriously inept:

Court Deals Major Blow to Trump's Signature Civil Service Reform Law

Ruling will put "structure" and "safeguards" in place for employee discipline law, attorney says.

www.govexec.com

If I ever wrote a book on hospital risk management, it would be a case study series probably titled "You Can't Keep A Bad Man(ager) Down".

Still though, I'm surprised that as chill a place as a dispensary should be in my mind, that this guy/gal has such trouble.

 

[projektreverb]

Within 3-6 months if I recall correctly. He also had the same "talking to" at his current job within 3 months. Both times, OP was right and his supervisors just had a stick up their ass.

What are the odds someone gets the same talking to.... Twice... I’m willing to give OP benefit of the doubt but just saying...

I’ve dealt with my fair share of crazy managers so i know what that feels like but at a certain point, if it keeps happening it makes you wonder.

 

[BMBiology]

there are people at work or at any job that are absolutely crazy. like, they are nuts. if something happens, they will become visceral and insane. they don't know how to or are unable to work with people. it's like ego wars, always wanting to "one up" or be "on top" in a situation. it's really weird, and cringe worthy. granted, i sometimes fall victim to this, but i realize that it's very bad when it happens and should be avoided. but when you have two people engaging in an ego-ic war, and both don't understand or don't care that they are doing it, then the situation is cringey

how do you deal with someone or people that have their head so far up their ass that they can't see light? that they are willing to sacrifice team morale for their own ego-ic desires and impulsive reactions? i think it's very hard to come across a warm workplace. there will always be a couple of **** stains, varying in terms of severity, that **** it up for some people

Maybe you are the nutty one.

That being said, I have worked with a few bad apples. Don’t bother with them and eventually they will self destruct.

 

[projektreverb]

Maybe you are the nutty one.

That being said, I have worked with a few bad apples. Don’t bother with them and eventually they will self destruct.

Usually I just hope I’m not there when those people self destruct. I’ve noticed they try and take everyone around down with them as well.

 

[BidingMyTime]

I hate workplace drama. It is worse in hospitals, because there are hundreds more people for the drama to rise up from it. It never ends.

Amphetamine, isn't think like the 3rd job where you are having workplace drama issues? I apologize if I'm confusing you with someone else, but if not, you might want to start looking at what you can change in your own behavior.

It's is impossible to avoid workplace drama, but best practices.

1) Only state facts, not opinions. If a co-worker comes to work and starts bellowing about how s/he can't believe all the sexist people in the country voted for Trump, and another co-worker bellows back about how s/he can't believe anyone would vote for a murderous back-stabber like Clinton, and then they both look at you........the proper response is to say, "Yes, I watched the elections and saw that Trump won." Unless you live in a swing state, you can add "Of course, our state voted for Clinton/Trump, because our state always goes for Democrats/Republicans regardless of who the candidate is running." Your co-workers might keep pushing trying to get an opinion out of you, but at this point you announce that you need to check the refrigerator temps, or you have to check to make sure no one is smoking in the IV room, or whatever.

2) Do not give an opinion on conflicts between co-workers. Remember all those empathy CE's you did because they were an easy CE, and not because you actually thought you would ever use them in practice? Well, this is where you use them. When a co-worker says, can you believe s/he didn't do any of the unit-dosing last night, or the refrigerator checks, or refilled the Omnicell in anesthesia, but our boss denied my vacation day and gave it to her/him instead??? The proper response is, "It sounds to me like you are really disappointed about having to reschedule your vacation. Why don't you take an extra 10 minute break, while I get the unit-dose started?" (This also benefits you, because if your co-worker doesn't take a break, they will just continue to waste everyone time in the pharmacy, so it would be better if you just do their work for them.)

3) What if a co-worker has personally singled you our for ridicule and abuse? First, I'd recommend applying rules 1 & 2, many times your co-worker will get bored with your lack of response and move on. But not always. Then you have 2 choices 1) look for another job--this is usually the best choice. 2) give up ignoring the drama and passively-aggressively jump into the drama and play the game.

 

[rxkrafted]

I hate workplace drama. It is worse in hospitals, because there are hundreds more people for the drama to rise up from it. It never ends.

Amphetamine, isn't think like the 3rd job where you are having workplace drama issues? I apologize if I'm confusing you with someone else, but if not, you might want to start looking at what you can change in your own behavior.

It's is impossible to avoid workplace drama, but best practices.

1) Only state facts, not opinions. If a co-worker comes to work and starts bellowing about how s/he can't believe all the sexist people in the country voted for Trump, and another co-worker bellows back about how s/he can't believe anyone would vote for a murderous back-stabber like Clinton, and then they both look at you........the proper response is to say, "Yes, I watched the elections and saw that Trump won." Unless you live in a swing state, you can add "Of course, our state voted for Clinton/Trump, because our state always goes for Democrats/Republicans regardless of who the candidate is running." Your co-workers might keep pushing trying to get an opinion out of you, but at this point you announce that you need to check the refrigerator temps, or you have to check to make sure no one is smoking in the IV room, or whatever.

2) Do not give an opinion on conflicts between co-workers. Remember all those empathy CE's you did because they were an easy CE, and not because you actually thought you would ever use them in practice? Well, this is where you use them. When a co-worker says, can you believe s/he didn't do any of the unit-dosing last night, or the refrigerator checks, or refilled the Omnicell in anesthesia, but our boss denied my vacation day and gave it to her/him instead??? The proper response is, "It sounds to me like you are really disappointed about having to reschedule your vacation. Why don't you take an extra 10 minute break, while I get the unit-dose started?" (This also benefits you, because if your co-worker doesn't take a break, they will just continue to waste everyone time in the pharmacy, so it would be better if you just do their work for them.)

3) What if a co-worker has personally singled you our for ridicule and abuse? First, I'd recommend applying rules 1 & 2, many times your co-worker will get bored with your lack of response and move on. But not always. Then you have 2 choices 1) look for another job--this is usually the best choice. 2) give up ignoring the drama and passively-aggressively jump into the drama and play the game.

Don't waste your time on this troll lol.

i love my job. get high, stay high folks

 

[projektreverb]

Don't waste your time on this troll lol.

With modest anteater gone, we need our entertainment!

 

[Sine Cura]

From what I have highlighted in the OP prob fancies himself as a "take no ****" kind of person but without the finesse or people skills to manage/defuse conflict, so while he is superficially correct he probably pouring gas on the fire

 

[Rybko90]

Amphetamine Salts, I've followed your posts over the years and I think like others have mentioned, you probably do need to make sure it's not something you're doing.

There are always going to be difficult people at work. You need to learn to be the cool one and let things bounce off you. Everyone doesn't have to be your friend. Over the course of your career, or any career really, you will work with some managers that rely strongly on negative reinforcement and an environment of fear. Some are the complete opposite and use only positive reinforcement. Either strategy can be used viably to manage different employees and to get the best result possible. Don't take things personally.

Anyway, you're not a bad guy and I hope you figure things out for yourself. Best of luck.