Comments on The Professional Assistant: Cubicle Etiquette 101

How does one tell their co-worker that their perso...

2011-07-07T19:19:16.131-04:00

How does one tell their co-worker that their personal phone calls in a foreign language are annoying? Never mind the fact that it seems most of those calls involve the sale of real estate, which the co-worker is doing on company time. This can be determined as the person uses both English and another language during the conversation and it is quite obvious that a real estate transaction is taking place. Not only is the sound of the foreign language annoying but the fact that the person is using company time to make money on the side is extremely frustrating :P

Hi Yinka, If you don't feel comfortable talki...

2011-05-02T11:25:47.502-04:00

Hi Yinka,

If you don't feel comfortable talking to the person in the cubicle next to you, mention it to your manager or HR person.

Thanks,

Richard

This article is really timely and helpful, in the ...

2011-04-29T17:43:02.725-04:00

This article is really timely and helpful, in the growing cubicle contexts of business environments. I intend to make the required adjustments to make life in my cubicle a better place to work in.

Please! How does one politely tell a lousy cubicle mate with lots of visitors that their attitude and visitors are disturbing without creating any ill feelings in the work environment.
Thanks again.

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2010-10-13T23:37:08.173-04:00

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I work in an engineering department and we have th...

2010-09-22T09:33:36.333-04:00

I work in an engineering department and we have the proverbial loud talker. We are a constantly on the phone all day working with clients and even from the other side of the department he drowns out conversation in my cube. The guy really is oblivious to how far his voice projects. Combine that with a very combative personality and a propensity for the dramatic and it’s no wonder the guy drives everyone crazy. He’s a bright guy when it comes to his work, but his etiquette is so far off point that it overshadows his value.

Yep, I know the feeling of perfumes and colognes. ...

2010-07-05T15:22:22.327-04:00

Yep, I know the feeling of perfumes and colognes. Our workplace actually has a policy of not allowing them any longer.

Thanks,

Richard

You forgot to list perfumes. People love to wear ...

2010-02-18T11:42:57.318-05:00

You forgot to list perfumes. People love to wear overpowering scents which makes some people sick to the gut. The world has to smell their cologne. ek!

I've had this same situatino before, where a p...

2009-06-25T10:06:05.509-04:00

I've had this same situatino before, where a person would constantly hum. I took it to my manager, since I didn't want to embarrass the person and she took care of it.

Give it a try, it might just work. If it doesn't, at least you tried.

Thanks,

Richard

Right now I'm sitting in my cubicle and the &q...

2009-06-19T14:50:54.992-04:00

Right now I'm sitting in my cubicle and the "new person" has turned on her radio and is humming loudly off-key...I'm wearing my headphones and I can still hear her!

The last person that sat at there chomped on popcorn or sunflower seeds WITH THE SHELLS!!!! Or she was yawning loudly or crunching ice!

As far as having loud music and talking creating teamwork? Bologna! You can't convince me that everyone loves the same kind of music and conversation and is productive all at the same time.

What makes that right?

I work in a cube farm of engineers. I am surprise...

2008-12-11T18:06:00.000-05:00

I work in a cube farm of engineers. I am surprised at how many around me have distracting or annoying habits. One lady apparently has long fingernails, because when she types it is a constant series of loud clicking. This is extremely distracting and annoying. How can someone be so incredibly inconsiderate? Does she actually think everyone in the entire room can't hear that???? Ugh!

Then there's the person right next to me who chews gum with their mouth OPEN. The constant noise from that drives me up a wall. Then there's the guy who often makes very loud throat clearing noises - especially lately since he has been SICK while still working here.

I've been keeping myself sane by putting on headphones with music on at least a medium volume level. I think I'm going to have to invest in one of those noise-cancelling headphones that completely seal around the ears. In the mean time I'm going to discretely tape up a copy of your etiquette rules somewhere public.

I agree with portions of this as well, since "some...

2007-11-01T15:37:00.000-04:00

I agree with portions of this as well, since "some" offices are created so that there is a radio blaring or what have you.

I used to work as a bank teller and had the radio in the background as well, but from my past 9 years of experience working in offices (and I went through quite a few different companies and locations) is that "most" offices are quiet, for the most part.

Although your comments are valid, I think it reall...

2007-11-01T12:12:00.000-04:00

Although your comments are valid, I think it really depends on the office culture which can differ greatly between organizations. It's up to the individual to analyze this culture in addition to the individual relationships around them. I've been in offices where loud music is acceptable with people shouting over cubicles at each other, which was perfectly acceptable - it made the environment vibrant and fosters team unity. On the other hand, I've been in offices where I could hear a pin drop.