Every workplace has them. The difficult ones that make everyone else's life miserable from 9 to 5 (or whatever). Dealing with them often takes the tactical savvy of a combat field general.

You may love you job, but just not your coworkers? Unfortunately, working in a job that involves difficult or unruly coworkers leaves many people feeling that their only option is to resign. Not so. You do have other options.

There are a number of different steps that you can take to deal with problem coworker, while keeping your job and your income.

Dealing with Difficult Coworkers Alone

A small conflict may be one that you can handle on your own; however, more serious problems may call for more serious actions. With that in mind, one of the first things that you should do, when looking to deal with a difficult coworker, is speaking with them privately.

When speaking with a coworker that you have a problem with, you will want to be careful. When this conversation takes place, should it ever, you will want to be as pleasant and as friendly as possible. Many individuals do not realize that even a slight attitude can make a problem with a coworker much worse. If you are frustrated with a coworker who can never seem to get a project completed on time, you may want to offer to help them create a schedule. If you have a problem with a perfume or cologne that a coworker may be wearing, you may first want to explain any health complications that you may be having due to the scent.

Go to Supervisors or Management

Remember that there extenuating circumstances that should be taken into consideration. For instance, if you feel that a coworker of yours is harassing you, in a sexual way or not, you may want to refrain from speaking to them. In certain situations like these, those who are unstable feed off of contact from you and others in your situation. To protect yourself from any harm, you may want to consider contacting your supervisor right away.

Speaking of contacting your supervisor, if you have discussed your problems with a coworker personally and you have not seen any positive changes, consider brining your supervisor in on the issue. When doing this, you will want to use your best judgment.

Work Related Issues

If you regularly find yourself performing the duties and tasks for your coworker or if they mishandled important company documents, you should approach your supervisor without any question. Mishandled work affects the entire teams well-being and performance records.

The above mentioned steps are just a few of the many steps that you can take if you are having conflict or problems with one of your coworkers. As a reminder, you are advised to use your best judgment when handling situations such as these.