Conflict is inevitable in the workplace and learning how to deal with it can be vital to a positive work environment.

This week marked Improve Your Office Day and some people have found it difficult to collaborate with colleagues again after working from home during the pandemic.

Life Coach Mark Fennell joined The Hard Shoulder to discuss how to deal with that constant exposure to difficult people.

"Difficult people make it all the worse and sometimes you can't escape them if you're working with them."

Mr Fennell said that people will quit over negative workplace dynamics - "if they're not gelling, or they're not vibing".

Choose your battles

Mr Fennell warns that, while addressing issues is important, "not every battle is worth winning".

"We're all humans and we all have an ego and the ego doesn't like to be disrespected", he said.

"Regardless of the battle, the outcome is more the focus."

Presenter Kieran Cuddihy asked whether some relationships are even worth saving at all.

According to Mr Fennell, "yes and no".

"If the person just makes you feel awful, they constantly disrespect you and there's no effort to make any change ... distance is your friend."

"But if, for example, it's on and off, sometimes we can learn a lot about ourselves and people through that challenge."

Returning to the office

Post-pandemic, as workers return to the office, there have been changes in the workplace environment.

"I don't mean this in a negative sense, but they kind of have a bit more entitlement than they might've had beforehand", said Mr Fennell.

People have become "set in their ways" working from home and now find it hard to collaborate again.

"People have become quite insular due to COVID", he said.

Having the conversation

Choosing "the path of least resistence" will only make things worse.

"It becomes like a pressure cooker, and one day then you blow up at that person and that person is going 'what's wrong with them?'"

A trick that Mr Fennell teaches employees in his workshops is the 'X Y Z' method.

"You maybe feel X because of Y and Z is how I'd prefer to be treated."

"Bring it to them and say: 'I know that might not bother you, but if you were me feeling like this, you wouldn't like to let it continue'."

"It's not going to be easy, but at least you've got a little go-to."

Listen back to the full conversation here.

Main image shows employees in a meeting. Picture by: Daisy-Daisy/Alamy