Civility at Work: How Do I Deal with a Mean Co-Worker? (video)

Civility at work is a team sport.

What do you do if you’re dealing with a co-worker who is completely uncivil? I mean down-right mean, “their momma should have taught them better” kind of uncivil? How can you address civility at work at a team level?  #Askingforafriend

I was talking with an HR leader the other day about some of the challenges they were facing after a very turbulent year, stressful year.  They are in an industry that has faced a lot of stress and anxiety at the frontline.

And he said, honestly, “At this point, our biggest challenge is civility at work. Getting people to treat one another with common sense, basic levels of respect.”

This made me so sad, knowing what these frontline employees have been dealing with. The last thing they need on top of all the stress is to have to deal with a mean or uncivil coworker.

So I did a quick LinkedIn Poll to see how pervasive this was.

So here are a few of my thoughts about how we can tackle t his challenge of civility at work. I would also really love to hear from you.  What advice would you add?