How to Properly Handle Awkward Situations
Learn the best 3 ways to handle an awkward situation that is heading south fast!
Call me crazy but I love awkward situations. You know, when you get caught in the slow elevator with your boss and you stand next to each other in awkward silence the whole ride, or that moment when your coworker realizes she wasn’t invited to last night’s happy hour.Â
How to Properly Handle Awkward Situations
I’ve touched on office life in a bunch of articles, including “How to Deal with Annoying Coworkers,” and this article will help you navigate awkward situations at work, but also in the outside world as well. So with that, here are my top three tips for properly handling an awkward situation.
Tip #1:Â Distract Yourself
Okay, so avoidance may not be the most mature answer but when it comes to dealing with being a part of an awkward situation, it’s every man and woman for themselves.
A friend of mine was recently out to lunch with coworkers when one of his fellow employees started in on a story about a recent trip to his in-law’s house. What was a casual lunch soon turned into an “in-law bashing brouhaha” filled with more rants and raves than a Charlie Sheen podcast. My friend said that he was surprised when not only did no one react negatively to the coworker’s rant, but others joined in. So, what did my friend do? He did the grown-up thing and acted as if he was distracted.
Lucky for my friend they were at a bar with a giant big screen TV showing a soccer game. As soon as he heard the comment, he quickly looked around, hoping others would share his shock, but when no one reacted, he just turned his head to towards the TV and didn’t take his eyes off of it. He looked so focused on the game that no one tried to get him to join the conversation.
That, as I said before, may not be the most mature thing, but then again, neither is talking rudely about your family members in front of others. So, when in doubt, find the nearest form of distraction and focus in like you were just being told the secret to life.
Tip #2:Â Remove Yourself From the Situation
Just this past weekend I was having coffee with two other people and discussing an upcoming networking event we’d all be attending. While talking about who would be attending, one person’s name came up—which started an avalanche of comments. They shot off improper comment after improper comment, which made me very uncomfortable. I knew I had to take myself out of the situation.
I grabbed my pocket as if I had just received a phone call and excused myself. Okay, so I lied, which is not necessarily the proper thing to do, but it was the fastest response I could think of. I politely excused myself and then put the phone to my ear and walked outside.
Through the window I pretended to talk as I watched them slap each other on the back and use improper mannerisms. Once I thought they were done, I came back in and excitedly brought up a new topic. That way I took out the bad and started a new, much more appropriate discussion.
Tip #3: Say Something
If you are in a conversation when someone is making rude comments and just by listening you run the risk of being held accountable for “participating”, you have to speak up. You never want to be associated with a conversation that could land you in an awkward and inappropriate situation.
Whether it’s a friend or a coworker, you should always feel free to say something like, “Sorry, I don’t agree at all and I’ll be leaving this conversation.” It might feel slightly uncomfortable at the time, but when your boss is informed—by an anonymous source, of course—of certain things that were said and your name isn’t mentioned, you’ll be thankful you had the cajones to speak up.Â
Do you have a great story about how you handled an awkward conversation? Post them on my Modern Manners Guy Facebook page so we can all hear the details. As always, if you have another manners question, I’m look forward to hearing from you so drop me a line at manners@quickanddirtytips.comcreate new email. As well, don’t forget to follow me on Twitter @MannersQDT. And of course, check back next week for more Modern Manners Guy tips.
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