Deep breaths deep breaths! We know this is a topic that a lot of individuals have to deal with on a daily (if not hourly) basis, how to do with annoying people in the office. We wanted to outline some tips to decrease the annoying and increase communication between you and your team.
1. Flip the Perspective
Jillian has emailed you four times today about a, and it is not even 10 am. First, take a deep breath. Next, ask yourself why Jillian is so persistent. Is it because you are holding up her work? Is it because she has a deadline and needs your assistance? Who knows! While you may be in the middle of something her something might be on a tight deadline. So, pick up the phone and give her a call. Find out when she needs what she needs, and tell her when she can expect to receive it. The phone call will stop the emails and will give her a clearly defined idea of when to expect that information. By reminding yourself of her perspective (or needs), you are flipping your frustration, to her point of view, allowing you to reduce your annoyed feelings.
2. Get some headphones
Did Josh just shout across the room for Linda again? Maybe Sarah just started cackle laughing at a joke Nathan told. When you are in the middle of a project, there is nothing worse than having your team members being too boisterous. If you work in an open floor plan, you know exactly what we are talking about! The solution, get some awesome headphones (we recommend Bose noise canceling headphones). If you don't have to speak on the phone a lot, then these are an excellent choice and can help you drown out Sarah's hyena-like laugh. If you are on the phone a lot, then look for a headset with a noise-canceling microphone!
3. Get Creative
Did someone use all of your organic Italian salad dressing again? The fridge thief is one of the most annoying coworkers. If you are unable to identify who is stealing your stuff out of the fridge or HR is unable to stop the bad behavior you will need to get creative. Instead of bringing your Pumpkin spice creamer in the original bottle, pour it into a different container (think mayonnaise jar) that no one would want to open. If you are looking for smart ways to hide your work snacks from the fridge thief we recommend doing a quick Pinterest search!
4. Just don't talk
Have a co-worker who sounds like they could be a guest on a CNN or Fox news show? Most of us do, and it does not take a lot to get them on the topic of politics. Our advice is don't talk about it. They start talking about how Thomas Jefferson's ideas of agrarian economics are coming back full circle in the New York mini garden movement; your response should be "cool," then you walk away. That simple, don't talk about it, problem solved. Back during the 2016 election cycle, we wrote an article on how we handle office politics if you need more assistance you can find it HERE.
5. Be straight forward
Every office has one of those annoying people who always walk into your space and just starts talking. Legit just talking, it might start as a work topic but then Debbie quickly move on to gossip or random things. Meanwhile, you are on a tight deadline trying to get a spreadsheet to Jillian. So, how the heck do you stop them from talking so that you can get back to work? Be straight forward. Pull out your headphone, turn to Debbie and say "Hey, Debbie! Jillian has me on a tight deadline let me come see you when I finish this up". Whether you talk to Debbie later is 100% up to you, but for the time being, you have politely gotten rid of your annoying distraction.
There are tons more types of annoying co-workers and so many more strategies for dealing with them (some better than others). One of our team members even wrote an article about how the Kavaliro staff annoy her (we're not all perfect), and you can check it out HERE. If you have an annoying co-worker remember to take a deep breath, find a new perspective, and let it go quickly (good luck).