Over at U.S. News & World Report today, I’ve catalogued the six most annoying types of coworkers and how to deal with them.
We’ve got the interruptor, the slacker, the know-it-all, and more. Check it out here.
6 types of annoying coworkers and how to deal with them
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{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
Oh boy, I’ve got the interrupter and the blabbermouth all rolled into one! It’s a pain when I’m trying to read something (like AAM’s blog) or get something done. I’ve resorted to sometimes picking up the phone when I see her coming. I dial the automated 1-800 number of one of our vendors so she won’t stop in my office.
She’s a nice person, but she doesn’t know when to end the conversation. I think she’s someone who thrives off interacting with people. She’s used to having a lot of people around at home and likes to socialize. She’s an extrovert. Me? I’m an introvert.
Ha, I have a neighbor who I do this with. If I’m driving up and see him outside, I pull out my cell phone and pretend I’m on a call.
I feel for you. It’s even harder to get away from a neighbor.
The person I work with always interrupts. Doesn’t matter who I’m talking to or what we’re talking about. And she always has to knock on my office door while my direct report and I are eating lunch. I think she just has to know what is going on all the time, where everybody is, what they’re doing, etc.
Somehow my office of 6 has an Eeyore and a blabbermouth, and they’re both management! It’s just lovely.
What happened to the smelly (smelly food eating) one? I swear every other day I smell rotting onions and burnt popcorn.
I have several extreme interrupters at my work. In fact it goes way past interrupting and deep into a total lack of respect for my time and my work. In my position, I serve a lot of the company in getting them information or materials to do their jobs. Because of this I need to be somewhat available, so I have some unofficial “open office hours” when people can stop by to get what they need. But, I also need to have time uninterrupted to contact vendors, do the rest of my job, and just think in general.
To some, a closed door and me on the phone deep in a conversation about the report I have up on screen means just come on in, hover over my desk until I politely ask the person on the phone to please hold, then ask the offending jerk in the harshest tone I can muster without sounding hysterical, “What the hell do you want?!?!” Some people will finally get it, but there are still the few who believe that whatever they need is infinitely more important than anything I could possibly be doing.
OK, I’m done ranting. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m sending Maintenance a requisition for a lock and a blind on my office door.
I know exactly how you feel. A closed door means nothing to some people. I’ve finally stopped closing my door. It doesn’t do any good anyway. Me talking on the phone means nothing. The person will just stand there waiting for me to either hang up or ask what he/she needs.
I finally just accepted that I was going to need to be extremely direct with people like this and started just saying directly, “I’m going to be a while. I’ll let you know when I’m free.”
That usually did it, but if someone still hung around, I’d add, “I can’t talk right now. I’ll come find you when I can.”