Try to actively listen to your colleagues and what they’re trying to tell you. Not only will this help you during any future conversations with them but you might also realize that you have more in common with them than you think. Colleagues from hell can seem very human after a genuine heart-to-heart conversation with them. You might not become the fastest of friends, but you may be able to have enough respect for each other to forget your enmity and get on with your work.
If all else fails and you’re still not friends or even lukewarm acquaintances, it might be time to change your approach. Depending on how serious the issue at work is, you may want to (and have to!) get your superiors and the human resources team involved. Usually, in more serious situations, it really helps if you have some sort of evidence to provide about how you’ve been mistreated or harassed.
Obviously, if management is unwilling or unable to solve the friction between you and your coworker, you can always look for a job in another department or even a different company. But that’s a measure of last resort, it’s not something you want to lead with immediately.
Alternatively, you could try to accept your colleagues for who they are, with all of their personality quirks. Nobody’s perfect and so long as they’re not actively harming you, you could try coexisting in peace. Try to be more mature and compassionate. If you’ve tried getting to know them and you still don’t enjoy their company, you could simply limit your interactions with them, instead focusing your time and energy on your workplace friends. You know, the people you’d send these memes to give them a break during work hours!
