Annoying co-worker

rang_27

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At work I sit in a cubicle. The person on one side of me is fine, but the guy on the other side is ANNOYING!!!. He is constantly making noise. It's all day long, he's humming, or tapping or reading outloud, or swishing water in his mouth. I try very hard not to let it bother my, but by the end of the day I'm nuts. If he could be quiet for at least a little while every day it might not be so bad. SO, my question is how do I bring this up without sounding like a child. I really want to go to our boss and tell him to move the other guy, but I know if I say, "He makes noice ALL day." I'll sound stupid, but it is very annoying. I don't think he knows he is doing it, and when I have made subtle comments about the noise he is just clueless! Any ideas?
 

goldenkitty45

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Can you have a small radio at your desk with it turn up just enough to drown him out? Can you have a private talk with him away from the office and point out that he is disturbing people with all the noises he's making?

Sometimes people are not aware of what they do IS annoying until its pointed out. If nothing is resolved in a few weeks, then you will have to mentioned it to your supervisor as your office work IS the #1 priority to be done.
 

gailc

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Or can you get a digital recorder and record this?? I recorded Neil's snoring one night and played it back to him. He is probably oblivious to the sounds he is making!!
 

tara g

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Originally Posted by Rang_27

At work I sit in a cubicle. The person on one side of me is fine, but the guy on the other side is ANNOYING!!!. He is constantly making noise. It's all day long, he's humming, or tapping or reading outloud, or swishing water in his mouth. I try very hard not to let it bother my, but by the end of the day I'm nuts. If he could be quiet for at least a little while every day it might not be so bad.
I had someone like that on the other side of my cube when I did medical billing. She was ALWAYS on the phone with creditors saying she couldnt pay her bills, talking extremely loudly. Opening cans of Mt. Dew constantly. Complaining she was out of Twinkies to anyone who would listen (and, she was about 200lbs overweight, like she needed more Twinkies?) Very hostile on the phone with clients, always taking her bad day out on them. Luckily, we were allowed to listen to radios or MP3 players as long as we had headphones, so I'd pop them on and tune her out. She was pretty bad in the bathroom too ... no one wants to hear you groaning loudly or talking to yourself in there. Ugh.

Ironically, recently a forward came through my inbox, and as I scrolled through all the previous recipients and senders, she was one of them
 

traveler5

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Seriously, I guess I'd pull him aside and, very diplomatically, tell him the things he does that bothers you and ask him kindly if he'd try to curb those annoyances. If you're uncomfortable about doing it in person, then fire off an email to him saying the same thing. Let him know you appreciate his association at work.
 

natalie_ca

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Why not just approach him and talk to him about it?

Say something like:

"You might not be aware of this, but I can hear every little noise you make throughout the day and I find it very distracting at times. Can I ask that you be a bit more concious about things such as tapping your pen or gargling at your desk?"

Honesty is the best policy. The guy probably does it all out of habit not even realizing that it's disturbing people.

I don't recommend running to a supervisor about it. You're all grown ups. Approach the situation as one.
 

whuckleberry

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That is a delicate situation. Some people are just oblivious to how much noise they make. Talking to him about it could be a good idea, but be prepared that he might not react well, or it could make things more awkward. It that happens, you'll probably have to involve your sueprvisor.

Can you wear headphones, or an earbud in one ear to try and cover up the noise?
One of my coworkers sat near a loud person. She brought in earphones and listened to some nice music to tune it out...it solved the problem for her.
 
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rang_27

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I tried the head phone this this morning and it worked fairly well until he looked into my cubicle & saw something sitting on my desk. Came in & proceeded to talk to me about it for at least 5 minuets, for no reason. If I talk to him I will have to think about what I'm going to say because he does not react well to that stuff and sometimes will purposly be more annoying if he knows it irritates someone.
 

swampwitch

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It sounds like he has nervous habits. Pointing them out probably won't help much. Why don't you talk to your boss about possible solutions, including moving to another cubicle?

Personally, I'd just plug into my iPod. Life's too tough to let the little things get you down. Choose your battles.



Originally Posted by GoldenKitty45

Can you have a small radio at your desk with it turn up just enough to drown him out?...
Ooo, I would hate that... small radio noise is the worst to me and it drives me a little crazy.


Originally Posted by Androdz

Put some rat poisoning in his cup a joe..
Where did you come from, lol! Welcome to TCS.
 
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