Sharon
Keeping the peace
Today I have a small headache, which is no surprise. Spring is always tough on me with all the pollen triggering sinus headaches and eventually migraines. I made a trip to the doctor Monday for a good ole steroid shot and some decongestants, but there's still mornings that I wake up feeling like my head might explode and eyes pop out.
It isn't helping that when I get to work, I have to deal with a certain coworker who is especially "sensitive" and competitive. We both were given additional duties to administer the company's intranet, Internet, and network site recently. We each have some background experience in different areas; he in creating Web sites and me in the technical aspect of it (connections, languages, servers, etc.). This would normally work out perfectly, since we each have our expertise that would cover all areas. However, he feels that he must know everything I know and continuously complains that I'm not sharing the knowledge and keeping him out of the loop. In actuality, I have tried to explain in detail some of the things I've done to resolve an issue and then he replies with "I already knew that, thanks for nothing!" I've let this go for awhile, but now he's complained to our supervisor. This morning, my supervisor told me that the two of us were "going to have to get along" or else.... He's planned a lunch meeting with us for next week to get everything out in the open.
My problem is that in these kind of conflicts, I find myself being defensive and not true to non-ego behavior. I want to stand up for myself but I certainly don't want to place blame or point fingers. I also don't want to give the impression that I can be taken advantage of and/or walked over at work. I hardly ever have problems getting along with people. Why this...now?
So....suggestions? I'd love to keep the peace and my "headaches" to a minimum.