HOW TO QUIET A NOISY CO-WORKER

(April, 2017) Do you work with someone who makes a lot of noise? From Lynn Taylor, a workplace expert and the author of “Tame Your Terrible Office Tyrant: How to Manage Childish Boss Behavior and Thrive in Your Job” (* Great title, Lynn! Except it could use a few more words.), here are some tips to shut up a noisy coworker without making them hate you:
1. Address the issue, but remain friendly. Try something like: “Hey, I need your advice on something. I know it can be challenging working in such close quarters. Is there anything I can do to improve your work experience being that we work so close to each other? Do I tap my pen or slam my cabinet?” Then, await a response before bringing up your issue with them.
2. Bring the issue up with the entire office. Posting an informal survey of the top five office pet peeves on the lunchroom bulletin board, or raising the survey results in a meeting is a safe way to gently remind everyone of some basic office etiquette.
3. Be direct, but allow your colleague to save face. You can blame the lack of sound-proof walls, poor acoustics in the area, your sensitivity to noise … anything to soften the criticism and make yourself appear more empathetic and reasonable.
4. Designate an official quiet zone.
5. Be sure you’re not over-reacting.
6. Use headphones.
7. Lead by example.
8. Relocate.
* Wow. Talk about passive-aggressive.
* Stop bathing for a couple of weeks, and THEY’LL ask to be moved.
* Then there’s always the classic – Superglue everything on their desk.
* How about every time they tap their pen, you blast them with an air horn?
* What’s wrong with letting them hate you? It gives you superiority.
* That sounds so stupid: “I need your advice on something. You’re driving me crazy with the noise so what should I do about it?”
* Here’s what you do. You walk over to your noisy co-worker’s desk and flip it over, then start beating everything with a sledgehammer.
* PHONE TOPIC: Do you have a co-worker with a particularly annoying habit?