Rosenverse

Log in or create a free Rosenverse account to watch this video.

Log in Create free account

100s of community videos are available to free members. Conference talks are generally available to Gold members.

Videconference: How to Work with Difficult People with Tutti Taygerly

Thursday, June 25, 2020 • Enterprise Community
Share the love for this talk
Videconference: How to Work with Difficult People with Tutti Taygerly
Speakers: Tutti Taygerly
Link:

Summary

How to Work with Difficult People We all know difficult people. And whether by necessity of job or family, some of these people will continue to remain in our lives. And occasionally, we might find ourselves to be the difficult person. As designers and researchers, we know the value of listening to our users and empathizing with their needs. As creators, we know the value of curiosity. As communicators, we know the value of relationships. Join us to build on existing product skills to work better with difficult people. About Tutti Tutti Taygerly is a leadership coach who helps creatives & technologists embrace their unique leadership style to achieve professional impact. Tutti has 20+ years of experience as a designer across multiple industries, from big data to consumer video and from enterprise software to entertainment. She’s led design teams at startups, design agencies, and large tech companies, most recently at Facebook supporting Video products.

Key Insights

  • Slowing down communication can ultimately speed up project progress by aligning shared goals with difficult people.

  • Prioritizing people over ideas leads to better long-term relationships and healthier team dynamics.

  • There is often a small percentage of truth in difficult people’s perspectives that can be leveraged constructively.

  • Sharing personal stories and vulnerabilities helps build empathy and bridge gaps with difficult colleagues.

  • Not everyone is your 'people'; finding those who align with your values and strengths is key to thriving.

  • Being labeled 'difficult' can stem from holding high standards and demanding excellence in teams.

  • High performers often feel frustrated by difficult people because of blocked efficiency, but collaboration requires patience.

  • Vulnerability in leadership is often misunderstood but is crucial for authentic connection and growth.

  • Emotional recovery from vulnerability or failure involves naming feelings, granting permission to experience them, and sharing with trusted peers.

  • User research principles like curiosity and empathy can be effectively applied to navigating difficult interpersonal relationships.

Notable Quotes

"People will forget what you said. People will forget what you did. But people will never forget how you made them feel."

"Multitasking is a myth. You can’t listen and do emails at the same time effectively."

"Slow down to speed up means focusing on long-term shared goals rather than immediate conflicts."

"People before ideas. The key to happiness and health is good relationships."

"Listen for the 10% truth in difficult people's words and build on that."

"Share your story vulnerably and in a neutral setting to open connection."

"Find your people — those with whom you have genuine chemistry and can be your authentic self."

"I was a very difficult person there. I was able to be head of design because I could sell my vision, but it was incredibly lonely."

"The label 'difficult' is your definition of it — it can mean high standards or a need to change behavior."

"Failure is easy but recovery is really hard. Naming your feelings and sharing them is key to resilience."

Ask the Rosenbot
Maria Skaaden
Panel Discussion: Methodologies and Work Environments
2018 • DesignOps Summit 2018
Gold
Saara Kamppari-Miller
Key Metrics: Comparing Three Letter Acronym Metrics That Include the Word “Key”
2024 • DesignOps Community
Laura Weiss
There is No Playbook: Leader as Coach During Challenging Times
2024 • Rosenfeld Community
Elana Chapman
Getting started with accessibility research
2025 • Rosenfeld Community
Sarah Williams
A Framework for CX Transformation
2021 • Design at Scale 2021
Gold
Lada Gorlenko
Theme 1: Intro
2024 • Enterprise Experience 2020
Gold
Bud Caddell
DesignOps Community Sensing Session
2021 • DesignOps Community
Sam Proulx
Mobile Accessibility: Why Moving Accessibility Beyond the Desktop is Critical in a Mobile-first World
2022 • DesignOps Summit 2022
Gold
Dan Willis
Theme 3: Intro
2024 • Enterprise Experience 2020
Gold
Louis Rosenfeld
Opening Remarks
2022 • Civic Design 2022
Gold
Sahibzada Mayed
Cultivating Design Ecologies of Care, Community, and Collaboration
2023 • DesignOps Summit 2023
Gold
Juhan Sonin
Design Now! The Agenda for Action
2025 • Rosenfeld Community
Tristin Oldani
Turning awareness into action with Climate UX
2025 • Climate UX Interest Group
Jeff Gothelf
The Intersection of Lean and Design
2019 • Enterprise Community
Christian Crumlish
AMA with Christian Crumlish, author of Product Management for UX People
2022 • Enterprise Community
Lija Hogan
Contexts of Use: A Framework for Connection
2021 • Civic Design 2021
Gold

More Videos

Xenia Adjoubei

"We mapped every individual journey on Google Earth attaching quotations and photographs to each location to represent human experiences."

Xenia Adjoubei Sean Bruce

Empowering Communities Through the Researcher in Residence Program

March 29, 2023

Tamara Kartoziia

"Combining customer journey mapping and jobs to be done gave us a clear set of opportunities stemming directly from the garage’s reality."

Tamara Kartoziia

Think global, adapt local: how service design accelerated B2B market entry by 6 months

November 20, 2025

Jay Bustamante

"Your role is to ensure that the right people are at the party — a multidisciplinary team."

Jay Bustamante

Navigating the Ethical Frontier: DesignOps Strategies for Responsible AI Innovation

October 2, 2023

Nicole Aleong

"We have a role to play in democratizing the future and amplifying more visions of what that future can hold."

Nicole Aleong

Future Orientations to Everyday Life: Futures Anthropology as a Methodology

March 26, 2024

Nick Lewis

"Most heavy website performance issues come from videos, images, JavaScript, and fonts."

Nick Lewis

Designing and building low-carbon websites independently

November 18, 2025

Vicky Teinaki

"By intentionally connecting the user outcomes we’re looking for with a business outcome via a structured hypothesis, designers can start considering the wider business impact."

Vicky Teinaki Michele Marut Tim Parmee

Short Take #3: UX/Product Lessons from Your Industry Peers

December 6, 2022

Laura Weiss

"The ultimate goal in conflict is to engage with the tension while reducing the friction between humans."

Laura Weiss

Turn Down the Heat: 3 Ways to Handle Conflict in the Moment

November 20, 2024

Joerg Beringer

"Our vision was to create an AI first tool for user research that delivers instantly well structured requirements and design inputs."

Joerg Beringer Thomas Geis

Scaling User Research with AI: Continuous Discovery of User Needs in Minutes

June 10, 2025

Shelby Switzer

"Persisting conversations in Slack instead of Zoom chat means folks can revisit and join conversations asynchronously."

Shelby Switzer

Making Space for Community Knowledge-sharing in a Distributed World

December 10, 2021