Officemate who won't shut up

I’m support AND business core. Yippie Ki Yay Kimosabe. 😀

I think I am support with aspirations to become core 😀

I predict “business core” to become the new bombers. Classic.

jhw – your posts are class my man, they bring out some issues you have but then you take it all on the chin when people round on you and point out you sound like a muppet. Kep them coming. You do make me laugh 😀

Get her promoted out to another office.

In the meantime, tell her she has a strong and commanding voice, but you’re a bit deaf so can she keep it quiet while you’re on the phone.

Or sack her.

business core are the people who go out and make money and basically keep the lights on,

Ah,

Sales.

a salesman who isn’t hitting his target.

Ah,

Sales.

Nope, just chargeable.

Headphones are your saviour… Wear them even when on the phone, well, one ear of them, that way you can either drown out the noise with a nice relaxing bit of Korn, or pretend to drown out the noise.

Either that, or build a fence between your two desks. Hazel. Maybe willow.

Get promoted into your own office. It’s the only way.

It’s a tricky situation to change things without being seen as a troublemaker or the one in the wrong.

+1 for headphones.
I wear them with no music on a lot of the time – just to send the message that I don’t want to be disturbed.

If I do get interrupted I tend to respond with “give me 2 minutes to finish this…” they usually go away and forget.

Let us know how you get on.

Hora could well be right about her perception of things. People who victimise themselves are very hard to deal with, they’re essentially children and aren’t willing to take responsibility for their behaviour.

You need to have an adult to adult conversation with her. If she responds like a child, which is likely, you need to tell her you’ll speak to her manager if she’s not willing to adapt her behaviour. Then make it formal.

From what you say about her behaviour and my experience with similar people, she won’t respond like an adult so good luck

We have an office dooshbag. Things got so annoying in the end the MD just had a word!

I work in IT so I guess support BUT the business would cease to function without the IT so does that make me core?

Confused

jhw – you need an office on the top floor my man. 😉

Maybe invite her on one of your climbing trips, along with Mr Needy and hopefully the two of them get it on. Mr Needy then splits up with hot girl (from a previous thread I recall). Noisy Officemate then ends up pregnant, marries Mr Needy and gives up working to look after their progeny. Hey presto, you are able to make a move on Hot Girl and have a nice quiet office.

Alternatively…

Wait until Noisy Officemate is coming up the stairs with her lunch (doesn’t matter whether it’s the salmon or pasta), then launch yourself down the stairs on your inaugural charity office stairs downhill event, killing her in the process. Hey presto, nice quiet office.

Hope I have been of help.

mossimus – Member
I work in IT so I guess support BUT the business would cease to function without the IT so does that make me core?

Confused

No, you’re not core. Core is what the business is about – eg what you sell to people. IT is a support service unless of course you’re an IT business 😉

jhw is core. He is to be respected 😀

Sod being adult! I used to work with a girl exactly like this. Never came up for air! “Then she said…. and then he said….. etc etc”…. On and on and on and on and on and on and on it went. Day in, day out

One morning I couldn’t face it any more, so I got in early and moved my pooter and all my stuff to the other side of the office. Subtle… 😀

We have a similar problem with our HR Manager of all people. She is rude to everyone but if anyone answers her back the tears start to flow.

She is quite happy to interrupt every other managers lunch break (which we don’t mind) but throws a tantrum if you enter her office during her precious lunch time.

I upset her last week and like a child she told everyone that she was no longer going to the xmas party. Nobody tried to convince her to go which upset her even more 😆

Our MD has also had enough of her so hopefully she will move on next year

a well timed firm but fair poke in the eye should settle the matter swiftly..

Legally – talk with HR/her Manager
Not fully legally – get her on her own, tell her to button it

Just bring your ice axe to work and threaten to kill her…

Tricky…

Passive aggressiveness might avoid confrontation in the short term, but in the long term it’ll on reinforce whatever conspiracy theory she has about people’s attitude towards her.

Perhaps the best way would be for you to communicate one to one with her and explain that her voice was drowning out the telephone conversation you were having and could she perhaps try and lower the volume in future.

We’ve got a “fog horn” in one of our open plan offices called Sellina, she like her Phone conversations LOUD with lots of unnecessary laughter…

Half of the staff who can have simply moved desks away from her, every time a new contractor arrives they are plonked opposite Selina, effectively though nobody has challenged her for being stupidly loud, and never will because we’re all a bunch of wimps and dislike confrontation…

I’d suggest a contract killer… Its the only way to be sure…
Plus ordering a death gets you promoted to “Ultra business core” – FACT!

One morning I couldn’t face it any more, so I got in early and moved my pooter and all my stuff to the other side of the office

Have done this on a number of occasions but during works time for maximum effect.

I significantly outrank her but she’s been around longer. Bluntly she is support staff whereas I’m business core.

Have you considered the possibility that you might be a bit self important? 😆

priceless

Law firms are places of rank.

It follows that the more junior you are (and “junior” is a word used as an everyday description), the more you are aware of status and your desperate bid to climb up the corporate c-ck.

What jhw, as a junior lawyer, is yet to work out is that “support” staff always outrank lawyers up to partner level.

Ergo, jhw needs to button it.

EDIT: if jhw is sharing an office with either a secretary or paralegal, then I think he knows his status in the department and can probably plan his career trajectory quite easily.

Order one of these

Have you considered duct tape?

Yeah!… Button it fatty! 😉

Paralegal!?
That sounds like an awesome job! Would it come with a helicopter and a fast motorbike to be first a the scene of an accident to sort out compensation claims in that first golden hour?

And just put them on every time she starts to talk. She’ll soon get the message.

err this

Stolen from a few months back (credit to The Flying Ox):

What jhw, as a junior lawyer, is yet to work out is that “support” staff always outrank lawyers up to partner level.

You’re not wrong. I’m not too proud to admit I’m the quintessential chippy junior almost but not quite at the bottom of the totem pole. A definite “type” huh. I don’t suppose I need to tell you that I’m in a windowless office by the copiers and the toilet – the only room on my floor with no air conditioning 🙂

One idea nobody’s mentioned is perhaps a little red siren light I can place on my desk at appropriate times? Or maybe get a second light in my room and put a red lightbulb in it for DEFCON5 situations. Like in Crimson Tide (going with the windowless office theme).

Oi, I don’t have issues, I’m just of a spiky disposition! Literally in the case of the ice axe episode.

*btw Brooess/Hora – genuinely helpful – thanks. I’ll act with care here…as if dealing with a live grenade!

As a lawyer you’re really going to have to sort out your powers of persuasion. Whilst I’m not in any way an expert, I assume it’s bad for a lawyer to be a walkover?

MTFU!

Is business core somewhere between management lite and aggressive support?

pork her

She’s in the office now and off her ***s after a long lunch…