The Worrier

The Worrier means well. They want everything to go perfectly and try to help wherever they can, but this can result in them becoming overloaded (and thus dropping the ball at a crucial moment) or becoming a micromanager.

How to deal with this type: “It’s very hard to placate all their fears, so don’t try,” says Robinson. “Instead, use your connections to work around them and get a project moving if it’s stalling. Or delegate up, getting them to take on the work if they are micromanaging you. For instance, say: ‘I’m a bit worried I might have missed some issues here, but I can’t think what.’”

The Rock

Robinson says: “Highly responsible and loyal, they can be brilliant colleagues. However, they can also be stubborn and immovably refuse anything they consider risky or low-priority.” They’re solid and reliable, but it’s tricky to get them excited about or willing to try new things.

How to deal with this type: Mirror back the things they highly value: responsibility, trustworthiness, dependability. Any time you’re keen to try something a bit different, show that you’ve already run through potential issues and have come up with a solution. The Rock will get moving, they just need a gentle push and some reassurance that they’re not going to go crashing down.

The People-Pleaser

“Warm, self-effacing, trusted, working alongside people-pleasers can be useful and you can learn a lot from them,” Robinson says. “But their conflict- and change-avoidance means they tend to tolerate poor behaviour and avoid making waves, which can cause some really big issues. If, for instance, they aren’t holding team members to account for poor behaviour and it’s impacting you, be alert that they may avoid tackling it.”

How to deal with this type: Be clear with them when their people-pleasing is causing issues. Outline what’s going wrong and what you need from them. “Ask them to address it and if they ignore you, don’t be afraid to take it to a manager/HR instead,” suggests Robinson.

There are 9 types of difficult people you’ll come across at work – here’s how to deal with each