Office Personas- The Bad & The Ugly

At a recent conference I attended they were discussing buyer personas. At the most basic level there are four buyer personas: spontaneous, humanistic, methodical and competitive. These personas are neither good nor bad, they are just differences in personal characteristics or predispositions that indicate how people will go about making purchase decisions but this made me think of some "personas" you might meet in the typical office scene. Office personas, on the other hand, CAN be positive and negative. Here are a few negative personas, and some tips on working with them:

1. The Bro (aka The Meathead)

Think Jersey Shore. The Bro is typically male and thrives in a competitive field- sales, business development, recruiting, etc. When it comes to relationships, The Bro values quantity over quality because  he wants to be well liked. The Bro does not take kindly to being criticized or questioned. The Bro is stubborn and likely will not change his behavior, even if it if deemed as unprofessional.

Tips on working with The Bro:

• Don't volunteer to work with him.
• Address issues with The Bro address privately. Do not challenge or question The Bro in front of others.
• Do not misconstrue The Bro's jovial nature for a trustworthy business relationship. The Bro will probably not go to bat for you should you ever need it.

2. The Busy Bee

The Busy Bee is busy being busy. He/she loves to boast about being busy either to garner sympathy or establish superiority. Busy Bees like to make plans and are eager to engage in projects but will remind others at every step just how busy they are (even when they are not any busier than anyone else around them).

Tips on working with Busy Bees:

• Being busy is closely tied to the Busy Bee's sense of self- never suggest that perhaps the Busy Bee is not as busy as he/she is suggesting.
• Give Busy Bees the opportunity to help out with projects- you'll already have to hear about how busy they are so you might as well make it true :-)

3. The Guru

The Guru loves to be right. You can find the Guru in management, investors, communications, and social media. The Guru will always relate a particular problem/situation/opportunity that is facing the team or company to something from his/her past. There are actually subject matter experts out there, but the Guru claims to be more than just that. The Guru sees himself/herself as the foremost authority on the industry, your job, or just life in general. 

Tips on working with The Guru:

• The Guru will almost never be wrong, just get used to it now. It's likely that you'll never make any headway on this front.
• Suggest other "rights"- The Guru doesn't necessarily have to be wrong for you or your team to be right.  If you can get The Guru to latch onto "your right" you will have him/her on your side as a promoter.
• If you suspect that The Guru is making the wrong call and his/her idea/solution may not pan out, make a back-up plan. It's never a bad idea to have something to fall back on!

In my next post I'll address some positive personas; but in the meantime, if you have encountered any other negative personas feel free to add the in the comments!