Co-Workers and Cubile Courtesy
I saw a cartoon in a magazine I was reading last week that made me think. Not so much as chuckle, but at least think. The lady in the ‘toon was sharpening pencil after pencil in her electric pencil sharpener trying to drown out the Chatty Cathy or Blabbering Bob in the cubicle next to her.
Since I work from home I can pretty much control the noise around me, so I can only imagine how maddening it must be when people around you won’t just shut up. And I’m sure it makes you want to go 8 kinds of crazy when you’re working, trying to concentrate and the people around you are socializing, gossiping and laughing.
Like I said, this isn’t something I have personal experience with (My cat isn’t a gossip. Senile, yes. But a gossip, no.). I had to ask and look around for solutions to this possible puzzle. I’m a softy, so I’m excluding the one about rolling a roll of duct tape into the culprit’s office.
Here are the more subtle approaches:
- Use headphones if your office allows it and it doesn’t interfere with your job.
- Go to the person and tell them that you’re in the middle of something very important. Ask if they’ll help you out by being really quiet for a while. More likely than not they’ll get the hint that they’re making more noise than they realized.
- If you’re bold enough, go to them face to face and say, “I really hate to say anything, but these walls are thin and when I’m working, I get distracted by noise….”
- If you’re sneakier than you are bold, say, “I’ve been meaning to tell you, if I ever make too much noise talking on the phone or to co-workers, just tell me. I try to whisper, out of courtesy, and keep my personal phone calls on my own time, but if I ever mess up….”
The consensus is that the next to the last thing to do is to stay quiet and hope the offending chatterbox stops chattering.
Apparently the last thing to do is to rat them out to the boss. Everyone hates a snitch. Maybe even worse than Cathy and Bob.
Have any of you ever tackled this problem?
Also, what do you think would be the next step if you asked them to keep it down but they didn’t? Would it still be bad form to take it to a higher power?
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
None of the above works. It may slow the problem from time to time but the problem with “no doors” is that people lose all boundries. I’ve worked in both cubes and in offices with no doors (and partial walls etc.) and the bosses all think it’s more productive to be able to just look over and talk to someone. NO TRUE AT ALL. They may work better knowing they have their thumb on the “pulse” of the employees but I don’t. I know everyone is different and some people absolutely thrive in those kinds of conditions. For me though, I’m a “quiet person”. I like my private, quiet space. I get 10x the work done at home than I do at work. I often end up doing my work at home because I can’t get it done at work! I like headphones, music gets me pumped. But whem I’m really having to think something through I need quiet. I don’t like seeing people moving in and out of my field of vision. I don’t like hearing people talk on the phone or even hear them working.
Working like this is one of my biggest pet peeves. When you work in a place like this the people who do work well in it don’t respect the people who don’t. They’ll walk into your office / cube all the time with no regard what so ever that you might actually be happier working than chatting. Employers need to learn to address the needs of individual employees to get the best work out of them. This is one of the biggest reason I want to “graduate” to working from home one of these days. I’m not meant to be around people for long stretches of time. I just can’t take it.
I can’t even imagine getting any work done with distractions.
My attention span’s kind of high maintenance. Always has been. Back in school, I got a lot more done sitting at home at the kitchen table than I did in the classroom. All the gossiping, flirtting,whispering, and laughing… It’s a wonder no one taped my mouth shut! -Joi
In work place attitude is everything and be positive.
I suspect that’s thereason general public want to read blog….Internet visitors generally create blogs to declare themselves or their secret views. Blog grant them same matter on the monitor screen what they specifically needed,so as the above stuffs declared it.
I think the problem for me is that so many people are toxic and/or unfocused…or just low functioning and/or crazy. Sorry to sound harsh, but Americans strike me as unbalanced and are therefore draining.
I love speaking with my friends — who are few and far between, but so cherished. They have something interesting and meaningful to say and are plesant to be around.
Most people drain the energy out of others and give little back. Many are angry, frustrated and so ego-centric that they vomit their frustrations out on others.
I hated working in office environments so much due to lack of boundaries, dysfunctional, intrusive behavior of colleagues that I founded my own company and can pick and choose whom I allow in my life and who can talk to me and for how long.
Dysfunctional and rude behavior are everywhere. When I go to restraurants, waiters will attempt to chat my ear off, dump their problems on me, etc. If I leave papers on my desk to go to the restroom, I will return to see the waiter peering over my table and rummaging through them.
There is absolutley no respect or boundaries in modern U.S. society. Here i’ts all about meeeeeeeee.. People do what feels good to them and almost seem oblivious to others.
I have responded by being cold and aloof. If I walk around with a smile, people from all over will target me with questions or just think I’m inviting some kind of interaction. Now when they look at me with their big prodding desperate eyes, and huge fake smiles, they get a nonreaction from me. I look right through them or am indifferent. Try it — it works. With my friends or in professional settings — or with family.
People get furious that they can’t get a reaction and sometimes have melt downs that they can’t get you to listen to their babble, etc. It’s funny but you remain in your self protective bubble. Just don’t reaction, Don’t let them intimidate you or steal your energy or your time.
The problem is they are the problem not you. You are likely whole within yourself, healthy, happily, and wise, and they are needy, desperate, looking to fill a void, etc….and voila! There you are. Notice how frustrated and depleted you feel. They feel great! They have stolen your life force — and knowingly do this.
Don’t allow it. It’s ok to be rude and to let people deal with it. I reject this — you ave to be positive …Fake positive is wrong..its also unethical. How many companies have crashed becasue people didn’t want to be “mean,” and state the obvious or be critical. There is a difference between being nasty and maintaining one’s integrity and not being bound by the opinions and limitations of others.
Live your life by honoring God and yourself…Keep true to your standards. The right and good people will gravitate to you..and everyone else will stear clear or drop by the way side. Isn’t that what you want anyway? Who cares if others don’t like it. Would you rather live cowering or being subjected to the endless BS of other people?
Stand up. Get a backbone. And enforce limits. Good people often get taken advantage of because they allow the evil in others to abuse the good in them. (Sorry for knowingly forcing yourself/your words, etc. on others is evil..Most know they are doing it …and do it to feel more powerful…and because it works…You are left cowering and listening…they get what they want….etc.
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