Have you ever been a target of undeserved blame? Do you know someone that deflects his/her responsibility for the problem by putting the spotlight on someone else?
What’s the best way to handle these situations? Do you fight fire with fire? Or do you fight fire with water?
An effective and professional way to handle co-workers who blame others is to simply ignore them. Stay focused on what is going to assist the team in the long run. Put the spotlight back on what will get your team moving forward.
Simply focus on two things:
1) Where you are right now.
2) Where you want to actually be.
Although you can do little to change how others act, the ‘blame game” is usually initiated as a defense strategy. Eliminating the need to defend and judge will eliminate the need to blame others.
Avoiding the blame game is easy if you are fully focused on the solution (versus the problem).
If the co-worker is making you the center of attention, use that spotlight to focus on the solution.
For example:.
“While I do not agree with how this issue occurred, Gary is right about one thing. I do want to take some responsibility for fixing it. Gang – we are where we are. What do we need to do right now to get us back on the right track”.