4 telltale signs your coworkers may despise you

Sometimes, it’s abundantly clear that someone at work doesn’t like you. But if you’re having trouble deciphering the potential signs, here’s a guide.


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While you can never be 100% sure how a coworker feels about you unless you ask them, chances are they might act a certain way. So, whether you’re the employee or the boss, here’s what to look out for. Buckle up.

Their eyes almost never meet yours

Sound familiar?

Lynn Taylor, a workplace expert and the author of Tame Your Terrible Office Tyrant: How to Manage Childish Boss Behavior and Thrive in Your Jobtold Business Insider explains why this can be a warning sign.

She says that it’s tough for someone to make eye contact with someone they’re not a fan of because “they’re afraid that you may be able to detect hostility, so the path of least resistance is for them to look away or avoid being around you wherever possible.”

They make it obvious they just don’t care

Jennifer Winter (now Jennifer DeRome), a content strategist, writer and relationship manager, writes in The Muse that one of the ways you can tell that your employees don’t think you’re doing a good job is that “they don’t play by the rules:”

“As a manager, you might not always be considered a friend, but how well your team adheres to the rules — both yours and the company’s — is a great indicator of how well you’re doing your job. On the other hand, when your team isn’t worried about the consequences of skirting the rules, that also means they aren’t particularly worried about what you think — and that’s a dangerous place to be as a manager. Your team may not always like you, but they definitely should be concerned with what you think and the consequences you’ll enforce if they aren’t working within the guidelines you or the company have set.”

They ask you way too many questions — and single you out

Reuben Yonatan, founder and CEO of cloud communication advisor GetVoIP, features an infographic and writes that one of the ways you can tell a coworker isn’t fond of you is if “they constantly question you.”

“It’s normal to question colleagues occasionally, but if you notice that your coworker questions every decision you make (and rarely questions anyone else), it’s a sign that they don’t trust you,” Yonatan says.

They never make time for you

This just isn’t fair.

Alison Green, author of the Ask a Manager blog, writes on Daily Worth that if “you can’t get your manager’s attention” it’s a clue that they may not like you.

“[Your boss] regularly cancels your meetings, forgets to return your calls and emails, and generally doesn’t seem to have you anywhere on her priority list,” Green writes.