How to Deal With Competitive Peers at Work

If you are working in a structured, tiered company, chances are, there is a clear pecking order. You have a direct supervisor and perhaps you may be in charge of managing other people’s work, too. There is likely to be other co-workers who are either at your level or who might like to advance to your job and take your place. Competition at work is a real issue for many workers. How do you deal with competitive peers and maintain your professionalism?

Instructions

1. Do your work meticulously. Do not allow yourself to be drawn into any kind of dramas or distractions. Do not pass on gossip about other co-workers or your supervisor. If you have been at your job for at least 2 years, you know exactly how much effort is required to complete your work. Don’t waste time. By making sure your work is not lagging, you keep your job secure.

2. Maintain a solid professional communication style with everyone you work with. You can have a sense of humor, but do not be too casual. With your supervisor maintain a more formal decorum. In talking with co-workers or corresponding in emails, maintain the appropriate tone of formal communication that fits the corporate culture of your company.

3. Find and maintain a mentoring relationship with a higher up who can guide you in the company. Ideally, this mentor is your supervisor. If it’s not, find someone who is at her level or higher. Be discreet: do not broadcast this relationship to others. Turn to this mentor for advice on everything that you come across in your work where appropriate.

4. Cultivate allies. This can mean the front desk person and other co-workers who may be in a different department of the company, but are not in direct competition for your job. De-stress by going to lunch with friendly peers and do not talk about the competitive peers where you may be overheard.

5. Be friendly, cordial and keep your distance from competitive peers. These co-workers may fool you by being very friendly, but you may later find out that on a team project, one competitive peer takes credit for a report you slaved over. Let small fires burn. This is not a huge deal in the larger picture.

6. Work with your mentor behind the scenes. Generally, mentors will ask their mentees to take on extra work to help them shine. If you are a smart mentee, do the grunt work. Your mentor, in return, will help you navigate your way through the politics at work.

7. Don’t forget, but don’t obsess over obvious attempts to sabotage your work. If you can absolutely prove that a competitive peer has intentionally damaged a computer file or done something else that directly affects your final output for an important function of your job, report it. Document all details such as dates, times, when you noticed that text in a previously saved file was changed, or if a report was misfiled in a cabinet so it could not be easily found. Privately speak to your supervisor. Present your information calmly and take her direction.

8. Keep your eyes and ears open about other opportunities in other areas of your company—and outside of it. If you have already set yourself on a career track within your current company, be certain you have a stable mentor to help you move up the ranks. If you don’t and there are many sharks in your environment, consider other options.

9. Attend conferences in your industry and network: find out who is expanding or hiring consultants. Brush up on any skills you need to sharpen and update your resume and references. To remain sane at a highly competitive job, have a realistic escape route to another kind of work. That escape route may be part-time consulting or other work not related to your current work. The idea is to not set yourself up “dependent” on your current job.

Tips & Warnings

• If your company offers confidential counseling, seek it out. If not, see a psychologist to advise you.

• Under no circumstance reciprocate any kind of sabotage you uncover. This will only backfire. Document any events of obvious tampering of your work and report it. Do not jeopardize your professional standing and your career by doing anything foolish such as

• playing any kind of "pranks," however small, on the offending co-worker.