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Handle a difficult colleague without it taking over your week

One person makes work miserable: talking over you, taking credit, or never doing their bit. Get a calm plan, the words for a conversation and when to take it further.

Updated 17 Oct 2026

The prompt · ChatGPT

Help me handle a difficult colleague.

What they do: [specific behaviours, with examples]
How often: [details]
How it affects me and my work: [details]
What I've tried: [anything]
What I want: [e.g. to work together OK, to stop being talked over]

Ask me up to 3 short questions first if anything important is missing. Wait for my answers.

Then:
1. A plan: what I can change, what I can say, and what to let go.
2. A script for a calm one-to-one conversation, using "when you… I…" and a specific request.
3. Responses for the moment it happens (being talked over, credit taken).
4. A simple record template.
5. When to take it to my manager or HR, and if it might be bullying or harassment, point me to Acas.

Only use what I've told you, leave blanks for anything I haven't given, and don't invent facts, dates or results. UK English.

Stay in this ChatGPT chat. Do not turn on apps or connectors, and do not use memory from another chat.

A short example

Fill the blanks, then paste. specific behaviours, with examples: a short note you already have. details: a short note you already have. Leave the rest of the prompt as written.

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