How to Deal With an Untrustworthy Co-Worker

We like to think we can trust our colleagues, but at one point or another you may encounter a co-worker who is untrustworthy. He or she may blame you for incomplete work, may sabotage your assignments, or reveal to the office personal information given in trust. When you encounter a shady colleague, the following suggestions will help protect you.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

1. Document everything. If you and the co-worker are required to work together, document the assignments you are responsible for. Send an email or memo to your co-worker confirming your portion of the assignment. Keep a copy of the email or memo for your records.

2. If you are concerned that your co-worker may accuse you of fabricating the email at a later date, copy yourself on the email. This way, your co-worker knows you have a time-stamped copy of the email.

3. If your co-worker will have access to your work, maintain your own updated file copy. Update your file copy regularly as you edit and amend your work.

4. Do not share personal information with co-workers. Keep your conversation professional and succinct.

5. Lock your desk with a key and your computer files with a password. If you have sensitive information, such as a client list, make sure it is secure.

Tips & Warnings

• While you want to protect yourself, do not gossip about your co-worker. You do not want to give your co-worker grounds to rationalize his or her behavior.

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[ashiflett]

on 2/18/2009 All of these tips are VERY good! Thanks for sharing!

[chava812]

on 12/1/2008 How about when you do project work and the coworker is the project manager and smiles all the time, but you eventually catch on that he is sabotaging you?

[angelanyc]

on 11/14/2008 Great tips!

[Firegirl1106]

on 7/18/2008 I agree with Diablo2. I work almost exclusively with women and they can be really difficult! One young woman is maligned regularly because she is very pretty and extremely bright. Just getting to know her increased her trust in me, and hopefully it will spread to the rest of the management team and the rest of the company.

[Diablo2]

on 9/1/2007 It's also a good thing that one simply sits down and gets to know this colleague; he may be a bit untrustworthy, but in many cases because they do not have many people whom he/she can relate to. Build a foundation of trust, and eventually this will spread among colleagues.