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Do you have any pessimists that you need to work with? The Mind Tools Club offers the following advice for managing pessimists and harnessing their negative thinking.

• The draw back of pessimists is they can be an enormous drag on staff morale and their negativity can quickly spread through an entire group however because they excel at anticipating problems they can offer a perspective that the optimists may miss or avoid.
• Pessimists
  • Are predictably negative
  • Often fail to appreciate others and rarely feel grateful or say “thank you”
  • Regularly feel others have wronged them
  • Can find fault in most situations/interactions and things are rarely good enough
  • Often hold grudges and have difficulty letting go of things
  • Tend to fear change, perceiving it as “too risky
• Handling the pessimists
  • Acknowledge their point of view by listening carefully and asking them to explain why they think that way. Asking them to now offer some positive suggestions may shift their thinking.
  • Bring the impact of pessimism to their attention by sitting down one-on-one and explaining how their negative attitude influences others as they may have no idea how they affect the rest of the staff.  Be sure to use specific examples so they understand.
  • Reframe the conversation as many pessimists lack self-confidence so they are quick to say “I can’t…” so push them to look at how they could do it by asking what training, resources etc. they need. Find ways to reduce the fear factor by asking them to explain why they believe it won’t work and work with them to develop contingency plans. Your support may reduce their feelings of fear or hesitation.
  • Increase their confidence because they may fear failure and thus shoot down ideas/initiatives because they are afraid if they get involved they won’ succeed. Work with them to achieve some quick wins or set up opportunities that build their skills for an upcoming initiative. Have them keep track of their negative thoughts and assist them in reframing them into positive ones.

Please share other ideas that have assisted you in working effectively with pessimists. Obviously there may be a point that the pessimist is unduly influencing the productivity of the workgroup such that progressive discipline may be in order.