Noisy Coworkers And How To Deal With Them
Every office has them; whether large or small, everyone has to deal with noisy coworkers. So what do you do about it? The answer really is in what are you willing to do about it. Here are some practical tips for keeping your sanity and the office "peace", so that you won't become the office loser.
Noisy coworkers often don't even realize that they are being noisy; some simply have habits that annoy others, others simply want to annoy or bother other people. The real key to stopping them is realizing why they are noisy, in other words what makes them tick.
The first type that you really have to deal with is the one who doesn't know that his or her habits are causing distraction. This person often feels that the office noise simply covers up any noise that they could possibly make, so their thought is "so no one can really tell that I am making a noise".
A perfect example of this is the person that will sit at their desk and sniffle all day instead of stepping away and blowing their nose to take care of the issue. These annoying coworkers drive you to the point that you want to throw a tissue box at their head. The better option however is to kindly offer them a tissue or simply mention that their behavior is wearisome.
Another type of people are those trying always to be the center of attention. They can be hard to manage as they strive to be noticed, with hopes of moving up the ladder of success.
No ideal tactics exist for handling this sort of person; you will just have to try talking to them. If speaking to them directly does not fix the problem, you should complain to your supervisor. After all, even with you coworker's conduct, you still have to get your work done. Given how much productivity the company is losing because of this worker's conduct, you are unlikely to be the only one concerned about the problem.
Every office has to deal with coworkers who are loud. What can be done about this? One solution to this issue is to use sound masking materials in your office structure. Noisy Coworkers have to be confronted as they do not realize that their habits are triggering a negative reaction. These people often feel that the noise they are making is far less disturbing than the usual office noise that occurs on a regular basis. A perfect example of this is the person that will sit at their desk and sniffle all day instead of stepping away and blowing their nose to take care of the issue.
Published May 28th, 2008
