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There are times when personalities clash but you have to continue working with someone. Here are my tips to manage that.

We don’t get along with everyone. There are times in business that you need to remain civil, working with them despite not liking them. Unless there is some sort of toxicity or moral issue not to work with them, you do tend to have to suck it up.

It can be hard to do, though. You have to figure out what’s next for your work or your career, especially if you run your own business* and need to keep business relationships. I’ve had to work with people I don’t get along with at all, and here are my top tips for managing it.

Limit the time you spend working with them

If you can cut back on the work you do with certain individuals, do that. The last time it was a personality clash for me, I was fortunate that I was working with someone else who did get along with them. I could ask that person to handle more with that individual—and I would do the same for them if it came to it.

Another option could be to hire someone to specifically deal with that person. It will cost you a bit of extra money, but it will be worth it for your mental health.

Blockwork your tasks to continue working with someone

There are times that you simply can’t pass on the tasks to someone else. Maybe it’s a part of your business that only you deal with, such as contracts. Maybe there is nobody within the team who knows the work well enough so you can’t delegate the tasks.

In this case, block out specific times in your diary to work* with the individual. You only deal with them during those hours, and you only deal with the tasks that you need to do. This could be for a specific set of hours every day or just on specific days of the week. The way you do this will depend on the tasks that need to be done.

You don’t need to tell someone that you’re only available during specific hours. Just make sure anything timely is handled if necessary. It’s why I like a set hour or hours each day. This way I don’t miss something important, and it just looks like I only check emails or certain notifications for better work productivity.

Keep it strictly business-related to continue working with someone

You don’t need to chat to people you don’t like. Even in the world of business, you don’t need to spend time getting to know people you work with. When you have a personality clash, the best thing you could do is just keep it strictly business-related.

Sometimes, personality clashes happen because people are too nosey. You can just avoid any personal questions. This will mean not asking for any personal information as well.

Find someone else who you can express yourself to

There are going to be negative comments that come up. I’ve had them, and often, I want to remark with some sort of sarcastic reply. I don’t.

You need to keep this relationship professional. But you need to get that negativity out, right? You should keep it to yourself, but what about your best friend? Whenever I have a negative remark in my head, I tend to text my best friend it. This allows me to say what I’m thinking without getting into trouble.

Find someone like that for you.

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What do you do when you need to continue working with someone you have a personality clash with? Share in the comments below.