If You Ever Want To Be Passive-Aggressive At Work, Here Are 50 Notes To Inspire You (New Pics)

Broadly speaking, there should be no room for passive-aggressive behavior in the workplace. If there’s an issue, it’s best to deal with it directly (if diplomatically) than to lash out in indirect ways. But that’s easier said than done.

It takes quite a bit of courage to have an honest chat with your colleagues about how their behavior negatively affects you. Meanwhile, leaving a note takes far less energy… and you can feel like you’re taking action while you hope that it solves the issue. To be blunt, it’s lazy behavior, and it’s not as risky as solving your problems directly. (Spoiler warning: it probably won’t. There’s no real, effective alternative to open communication.)

Psychology Today explains that passive aggression is an indirect way of expressing your hostility and negative feelings. People who employ passive-aggressive tactics usually aim to hurt or confuse their targets. These behaviors can sabotage your relationships both at work and in your private life.

“Passive aggression stems from deep anger, hostility, and frustration that a person, for whatever reason, is not comfortable expressing directly. When dealing with passive-aggressive behavior, it’s important to understand that beneath all of those snide remarks lies a deep unhappiness and sadness,” PT points out.

There are lots of different ways in which people behave passive-aggressively. Some of the most common ones include the following behaviors:

1. Procrastinating
2. Missing deadlines
3. Avoiding responsibility
4. Withholding critical information
5. Deliberately being inefficient
6. Avoiding discussing concerns openly and directly
7. Frequently underachieving, even if you're capable of doing better

According to Psychology Today, passively aggressive people often leave jobs either undone or ‘almost’ complete. Furthermore, they often run late. They also aim to subtly sabotage others when they disagree with them.

For instance, they might give out backhanded compliments or give someone the ‘silent treatment.’

Meanwhile, leadership consultant Stefan Falk, an expert in workplace psychology, pointed out to CNBC that passive-aggressive behavior essentially pollutes the work environment and destroys value. According to him, passive-aggressive individuals are inherently self-serving and constantly pursue approval.

“They can, over time, be viewed as highly competitive as well as result-oriented. But a closer look reveals that the end-game of all this is to serve the own self-interest, not the common good,” Falk notes.

On top of that, passive-aggressive individuals want to have followers, allies, and a community of their own, united in their battle against the work community. These individuals often use so-called ‘street smarts’ to get noticed by people who they think can benefit them professionally.

As per Falk, they have “a strong and obsessive dedication of playing the internal political game the right way.”

While they’re doing this, they’ll derail other workers’ agendas, regardless of whether they might actually benefit the company.

The irony is that passive-aggressive employees are frequently concerned with things that don’t affect them because they perceive potential threats in the future. What’s more, they hate their jobs, but they often don’t go for new opportunities elsewhere.

Falk told CNBC that passive-aggressive individuals operate under the notion of, “I know what I have, I don’t know what I am going to get, and chances are that it might be worse.”

The best antidote to passive-aggression in the workplace is accountability. It’s important to call out your colleagues immediately when they start playing office politics, like taking credit for work they didn’t do or for doing something else than what they promised to.

“You must make it painful for them not to live by their words,” Falk suggests.

Meanwhile, the BBC suggests that if your passive-aggressive coworkers are trying to antagonize you, your best course of action is to control your emotions and remain calm no matter what. This way, you’re denying your colleagues the reactions that they crave.

If things continue getting worse, either directly address this behavior with the problematic colleague or arrange a meeting with them and your manager. One of the best things you can do is have evidence of the passive-aggressive behavior so the problematic worker can’t deny what they’ve been doing.

Which of these work notes made you chuckle the most? Have you ever witnessed your colleagues leaving anything similar in the workplace?

Who is the most passive-aggressive person you’ve ever had the ‘pleasure’ of working alongside, and how did you deal with them? Share your work stories in the comments!