Check for your signs now
If your colleague is always discussing other people's personal or professional lives, chances are they’ll talk about you too. Gossip not only damages trust but also creates a toxic work environment. Keep your conversations with such individuals strictly professional.
A red flag colleague often deflects blame and avoids accountability. They might make excuses, pass tasks to others, or disappear when it’s time to deliver results. Their lack of ownership can affect team morale and project outcomes.
Healthy competition can be motivating, but a colleague who constantly tries to one-up others, hoards information, or sabotages peers crosses the line. Such behavior fosters hostility and breaks teamwork.
Unpredictable emotional outbursts or mood swings can make working with them stressful. If they are kind one moment and irritable the next, it creates an unstable atmosphere, affecting both morale and productivity.
Some colleagues go beyond their role to dictate how others should work. This can undermine confidence and stifle creativity. If they aren’t in a supervisory role but act like your boss, it’s a clear red flag.
Colleagues who frequently overstep personal or professional boundaries—whether through constant interruptions, prying into personal matters, or disregarding work-life balance—can be draining and disruptive.
A red flag colleague often complains, criticizes, or dwells on problems without offering solutions. Their negativity can be contagious, dragging down the overall energy and enthusiasm of the team.
If a colleague is hardworking one day and indifferent the next, it could signal a lack of commitment or integrity. Their inconsistency often creates a domino effect, putting more pressure on others to pick up the slack.