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Topic: office etiquette
| Author | Message |
| sssuedio | Posted – 4/28/2008 12:02:48 PM | show profile Hi all. I'm an editorial assistant with a biweekly magazine in NYC. It's an open air kind of office where there are no doors, etc. in a sea of cubbies. Most people are pretty respectful of the noise level. Except one group. The production designers. I sit closest to them. They brew coffee (a smell I can't stand), play mellow, kill yourself jazz or Air America all day (that can't be blocked by my headphones), and frequently read articles or jokes to each other aloud which dissolves often in to a debate or waves of laughter. This morning they are having a "weird talent show." Everyone loves them because they have this cool, hippie, love your mother earth kind of vibe happening. To me it's like the lady in the commercial who's trapped on a plane between two big guys who are laughing hysterically. I've asked to be moved. I've confronted them several times with different approaches, but the quiet lasts maybe 10 minutes. My editor says that I need to learn to drown the sound out. I'm trying, but it's not working well. I can buy $200 headphones but I still feel the vibration from the bass. My most productive hour of the day is when they go to lunch. I'm writing pretty complicated medical stuff that requires concentration. What can I do? I just want to cry coming to work because I know I won't be able to concentrate. I just want to get my work done during 9 to 5 so I don't always have to take it home with me. |
| Marie | Posted – 4/28/2008 2:51:43 PM | show profile Is there any other place you could move to? If not, try to sit tight and wait for someone to leave, then request that spot. You might ask if you can work from home for a while. Just say the noise is affecting your work, and the solutions you've tried aren't working. Period. Maybe someone who doesn't need so much quiet could switch spots with you. |
| PluckyPane | Posted – 4/28/2008 3:19:08 PM | show profile i don't have anything to add except anger. i often wonder why instead of solving a problem, management simply tries to punish those who are having the problem. why is this behavior allowed at work? why oh why are managers scared to stand up to idiotic behavior in the workplace? it's kind of like the cell phone thing, where people carry them into meetings and take calls. wtf? i'd take a different route, just to be a pain in the ass. i'd tell them that your neighbors listening to air america is offensive and creates a hostile work environment. political anything should not be discussed at work unless you're a political publication. you can't get your job done within the current conditions, period. it's up to your employer to make the changes and correct behaviors. |
| wineaux | Posted – 4/28/2008 3:29:21 PM | show profile I don't see how you can get anything done. Music, talk radio and powerful smells would throw me into a tailspin. If they won't listen to your pleas, I think your only choice is to go above their heads and tell upper management that you can't be productive under such conditions and the very least they could do is move you away from them. I don't see why they won't listen to you when you ask to move. I wonder if you could negotiate working from home part of the time? I write some fairly technical materials, and everyone else at my company goes into the office, while I work from home. Maybe you could negotiate at least partial worktime out of the office. Is that an option? |
| caitlinkelly | Posted – 4/28/2008 5:36:41 PM | show profile I'm guessing -- maybe wrongly -- your are much younger than these annoying people? Maybe they feel happily entrenched ("everybody loves them") which makes it even harder for you to make a complaint that will be heard. None of which makes it fair. This isn't easy -- while they sound selfishly insensitive to your needs, (for many people the smell of coffee or laughter are not overwhelmingly concentration-destroying, so you may seem a little princessy) -- few open offices are dead silent or even very quiet. I worked in one office where the ME routinely shouted, and shouted curses, across the room all day. HR shrugged. Have you tried taking each one of these people aside, quietly, privately and individually, to explain how this makes your workday intolerable -- even while you do understand it makes *theirs* fun? They may see you as a killjoy (unfair) while no one has disciplined them. If you tried this already and got no satisfaction, yeah, go higher. You've tried your professional best. |
| WordyBird | Posted – 4/28/2008 6:10:47 PM | show profile Sigh... I just quit a job with a similar environment. The editorial staff was woven in and among the ad sales staff. I understand how important phone work is to ad sales, but the majority of the reps did not know how to use indoor voices. Also, the constant chatter was not only distracting, but downright draining at times. I tried speaking directly to the staff involved. Some were more conscientious. Others did nothing, including one bridezilla who was on the phone all day long in a high, piercing, nasal voice planning her wedding and bickering with New York State about traffic tickets. I tried speaking with my supervisor, who then said something to the offending parties. Nope, nothing. I tried headphones (nice Koss ones). I even bought earplugs. Still, all day long, "MWAH mwah mwah mwah MWAH," like Charlie Brown's teacher. Add to this a few people who loved to snap their chewing gum all day long and having my desk located in a cubicle not far from the kitchen, in a spot where everyone who went past felt compelled to look over my shoulder at what was on my monitor, and you can see how within six months, I dang near developed lockjaw from gnashing my teeth all day. All of this, I explained to the HR person in my exit interview. That's right, I quit. Sooner or later, the environment and all the noise was going to start affecting my performance--and I did mention that to my supervisor when I spoke to him--and after all the years and hard work I've put into my career, I wasn't about to let some gum-snapping jabber jaws ruin it all. Especially when I was thisclose to standing up and shouting, "Will you PLEASE just SHUT THE *BLEEP* UP?!?!" Sorry if this sounds so negative. Just be prepared should you get no response after repeated attempts to rectify the situation. In the end, we all need a working environment that fosters concentration and creativity. It's just a shame that so many managers don't understand how important peace and quiet are to editorial staff. |
| WordyBird | Posted – 4/28/2008 6:21:41 PM | show profile Oh, and... Try scouting out empty conference rooms and quieter workspaces if you have to proofread, check bluelines, etc. I would send my boss an e-mail telling him that I was going over to the copyediting department "where things are nice and quiet" to work with hard copy. The joke among the staff in that department was that all the writers and editors came to their space when they had to get something done. |
| BruisePristine | Posted – 4/28/2008 10:25:05 PM | show profile I hate the open-air office shit I really, truly feel your pain there. Try describing 15 different chemical compounds used to neutralize effluent outflow in laymen's terms while a gaggle of adolescent boys in the bodies of 30-year olds use the word "faggot" repeatedly, talk about "banging chicks," describe cunnilingus in explicit terms, and blast the kind of adolescent garbage music you ought have outgrown at age 15 FOR 9 HOURS WITHOUT PAUSE. Serious jobs need serious, quiet offices. You might want to think about leaving. I resigned from my job. Unfortunately, I have two more big chemical engineering papers due before I go. Thank god for noise cancelling headphones and the knowledge that I will never see the BoyMen again. |
| ManhattanMatt | Posted – 4/28/2008 10:26:08 PM | show profile It sounds like you're just not a good fit ... ...for this job environment. Look at it from a manager's point of view. I'm not sure what your job function is, but you're just one person complaining about a design team that's doing great work. What am I supposed to do? Curtail them, and put a chilling effect on the job they're doing, just because you can't work with a little noise? If I were your boss, I'd tell you this is the work environment. If you can't handle it, I'll give you a good reference and I'll mail you your last paycheck. |
| BruisePristine | Posted – 4/28/2008 10:34:20 PM | show profile Yeah, Matt makes a good point. If they're not being offensive and they're getting work done, then not much you can do but shrug and say, "Meh, not for me," and find a quieter work environment. They do exist. The last place I worked, indoor voices were the rule, and music was to be played at volume 2 only. If, however, they're like my crew of losers, then it's them all the way, baby (something I didn't even figure out until I started posting here), and quit anyway. |
| sssuedio | Posted – 4/29/2008 10:33:43 AM | show profile Thanks for the suggestions. I suppose I'm just not sure why THEY don't have to wear the headphones and I do. That way they still get the music and I get, well, less bass. I can't say that to management without souding like a cry baby. The downside is, there are other editors who aren't speaking up. They have nicer positions far away from the production department, but their beef is with the sales staff. They said they won't say anything because they are nervous about losing their jobs. My friends from college are saying that I'm getting a lesson in journalism: The advertising buck speaks. I'm not sure if that's entirely the case. The customers I deal with are pretty darn important people in medicine, and me messing up their med ed would be, well, I don't want to think. |
| foodlit | Posted – 4/29/2008 10:45:04 AM | show profile Do you need to be in the office to do your work? Why not propose to your editor that you work from home at least part-time...sell it by saying your production will go up! |
| WordyBird | Posted – 4/29/2008 11:31:31 AM | show profile BruisePristine said: "Try describing 15 different chemical compounds used to neutralize effluent outflow in laymen's terms while a gaggle of adolescent boys in the bodies of 30-year olds use the word "faggot" repeatedly, talk about "banging chicks," describe cunnilingus in explicit terms..." That's when I'd have a tape recorder in one pocket and an attorney's phone number in another, because that is harassment and "creating a hostile work environment." But folks have been over that on another thread. Glad you're getting out of there, BP. |
| detour_memphis | Posted – 4/29/2008 3:55:05 PM | show profile Ohh My.... ManhattanMatt you are a real winner. Such a "HR" statement. Ok - listen people to this: I would go to upper management with all of these problems. I would inform my manager of the problem one last time. I would tell them of my plan to work from home. If they had a problem, I would seek legal help. I would use every card in the deck. You don't have to take no mess off of no one. As for you ManhattanMatt - if you told me that I would have you in court so fast your head would spin!! |
| writerandeditor | Posted – 4/29/2008 4:27:01 PM | show profile I don't know -- your coworkers don't sound that unreasonable to me. They're listening to jazz -- it's not heavy metal or scream rock. They're making coffee -- not exactly unheard of in an office. And they're -- gasp! -- laughing. Perhaps annoying if it's all day long, but they must be getting some work done, no? I had a hard time adjusting to an office when I first started too. I was used to absolute silence from working at home. You know what? I got used to it because I just had to. And my work is quite technical as well, so it took some time. How long have you been trying? By all means, see if your editor will let you work at home. But if not I think you just have to buck up and deal with it. They're not being offensive -- they're interacting with one another. An office isn't necessarily a library. If "everyone loves them," then could it be possible that you're being unreasonable in your expectations? |
| PluckyPane | Posted – 4/29/2008 5:04:38 PM | show profile i agree writerandeditor. in fact, we should make ALL places like that like in the library and at church. i think the next time i'm at the movies without my wife, i'm going to give her a call because it's my right to make noise, goddammit. sorry, but the you-need-tough-it-out argument doesn't work for me. the behavior, imo, is childish and inappropriate in an office. i think the word "professional" has loosened its belt a bit. nothing wrong with laughing, but weird talent contests? air america? come on. if designers need music or political banter to do their jobs, it can be achieved by them putting on headphones. let's all grow up for christsakes. if the poster can't make reasonable accommodations to drown out their noise, then the offenders are being too loud. end of story. |
| ManhattanMatt | Posted – 4/29/2008 9:10:41 PM | show profile Detour. "ManhattanMatt you are a real winner. Such a "HR" statement. Ok - listen people to this: I would go to upper management with all of these problems. I would inform my manager of the problem one last time. I would tell them of my plan to work from home. If they had a problem, I would seek legal help." Legal help. For what? What laws have been broken? You're a disgruntled employee who doesn't work well with the others. YOU are the one with the problem. |
| detour_memphis | Posted – 4/29/2008 10:25:42 PM | show profile Because this is America and I can sue for ANYTHING!!! Thank God we live in America and anyone can sue for anything!! And FYI - I run my office with an iron fist. I allow very little and I demand total respect. BTW - Thank God for G.W. Bush!! |
| HyancinthGirl | Posted – 4/30/2008 8:51:26 AM | show profile ManhattanMatt, while I agree that the office may not be a good fit for this poster, I do wonder why you would classify them as a disgruntled employee? Why would it be so hard for the team to put on headphones? It would seem appropriate if people in the office are on the phones, because music in the background is pretty inappropriate. |
| ManhattanMatt | Posted – 4/30/2008 3:03:29 PM | show profile Hyacinth ... ... it's a biweekly magazine. It's not a bank, a medical office, or a law firm. If you want a P.C. hush-hush, library-quiet "corporate" environment, stay out of the *creative* industries. Like it or not, a noisy environment often comes with working with creatives. |
| HyancinthGirl | Posted – 5/1/2008 1:00:20 AM | show profile The creative end of a mag is only 1/3 of the equation. The editorial team is another 1/3 and the publishing/sales/circulation team is the last 1/3. It seems silly that the OP's boss can't ask the creative team to wear headphones so everyone is happy. Poor building design is a bad excuse to shoot down a beginner and suggest to her that she leave the office or even her career because *creative* types have no self control. And really, how much creativity is there at a biweekly medical journal? Perhaps the creative folks are BORED. |
| bjoconnorfla | Posted – 5/1/2008 9:37:56 AM | show profile Dysfunctional, poorly designed workspaces are the norm in editorial work, and pros are expected to find a way to deal with it. That doesn't make it right that mgmt jams too many people with too many different functions into the same space, but they do. Take the advice above and work in the conf. room or other space when you can. And certainly, go up the foodchain, but only with suggestions for things YOU can do -- vary your hours, work from home some days, etc., but don't make it a crusade. Afer all, a certain amoutn of give and take in the office is necessary for creative work. Bottom line: editorial types have little sympathy for this complaint. A newsroom isn't a library. I have people who call or text web postings from the middle of airports, council meetings, etc., and just have to rise above it. And really -- complaining about the smell of coffee in an office? Sounds like you're personality is cut out for the freelance life. |
| caitlinkelly | Posted – 5/1/2008 10:39:36 AM | show profile The point is valid -- if not what the OP wants to hear....editorial offices (although Conde Nast is likely different from a newspaper newsroom) are often gross, noisy, cramped and uncomfortable. People who come into the biz generally know that coming in...and adjust accordingly. But professionals who last *also* develop some notion of politesse to not totally annoy their cube-mates -- and when they do, if they are pissing off enough people all the time (the OP seems alone in her frustrations) they are LOATHED. I worked four feet from one such monster in one job and I watched the calmest, most patient people practically explode in rage at his monumental selfishness and narcissism. His cellphone rang at top volume constantly, unanswered, among other nasty habits. So the problem is a mix of things..selfish co-workers who don't care they're annoying the OP; management who doesn't care and/or an OP who might be unsuited for a rough-and-tumble place. aaaaah, freelance. |
| HyancinthGirl | Posted – 5/1/2008 10:48:35 AM | show profile "Sounds like you're personality is cut out for the freelance life." Sounds like you need an editor. Laugh. It was meant to break the tension. |
| Mag Girl | Posted – 5/1/2008 11:11:07 AM | show profile Here's what a former colleague and I did about loud cubemates- get a nerf ball, pin a note that says "shut up" or "be vewy vewy quiet", whatever you think will work for them, and throw it at them when they're being loud. It's silly enough to be disarming, and they will get the point. Now the coffee smell- well, you might have to get over that. Coffee is omnipresent in offices. |
