The Best Ways to Deal With a Noisy Coworker
Your office isn’t always conducive to distraction-free work, especially when you have noisy and unpleasant colleagues. Here are some tips to help you politely tell someone about STFU so it doesn’t blow up in your face.
It’s important to make sure you’re not just overreacting or overly sensitive to “normal” office noise levels, in which case a good pair of noise canceling headphones can work wonders. But if you have friction with someone, be diplomatic. For example, take a coworker aside by inviting him or her to lunch or coffee, and explain your concerns by asking how you can also help your coworker focus better. Other solutions include:
- Tell everyone: Raise the issue of business etiquette in the meeting so that everyone is on board and no one feels allocated. Everyone’s brainstorming session can help solidify the rules.
- Create Quiet Areas: Define “formal” areas where people can have quiet time and have lively conversations.
- Don’t just think about yourself: don’t just tell your coworkers what will help you focus, but also ask how you can help them .
- Save face: Soften criticism by blaming confined spaces or thin walls.
- Explain why you want a calm environment: instead of just flashing him or her, which might be misunderstood, let your coworker know you have a phone call or a deadline to make your request seem reasonable.
- Set an example: if they speak very loudly, respond in a softer voice, for example, “I want to hear what you are saying, but I don’t want to disturb the people around us, so can we enter the conference room? “
Regardless of how annoying the coworker’s behavior may be, your goal is to fix the problem so that the other person doesn’t hate you, which requires a lot of restraint, understanding, and kindness.
How to tell a noisy coworker to shut up so they don’t hate you | Business Insider