Let’s call the noisy coworker NoiseGuy for short.

Situation, I work in a open office, in the same space there are some rooms with actual doors. NoiseGuy works in one of these rooms but he always keeps the door open.

NoiseGuy is very noisy about everything. He is constantly stapling papers at full power, whistling, yawning out loud, singing, and sometimes he just shout up some words out loud like “WEEELL!!!”.

I’m quite sensible to noise so I thought it may be just me. But I’ve asked other coworkers and everyone is sick of it. When he shouts specially loud everyone look at each other.

I did some research and he doesn’t even work in my department. He apparently got demoted here for having issues with his old department and being sent to my office was, apparently, his punishment.

He knows he is noisy, and I think he is doing it on purpose to bother everyone around him, that’s why I also think he keeps his door open. Everyone in office have decided just not to acknowledge him very much in a “do not look at the monsters” way. But he is just not stopping, it’s been years like this.

I don’t want to create a bad ambient in my workspace, but I’m starting to have a bad time each day when I hear him. I don’t want to switch jobs as I have otherwise a great job.

Options I have thought:

  1. Talking with my boss. My boss is not his boss so they have no power over him.

  2. Talking with his boss or human resources. They were the ones who sent him here, I don’t think they would be doing more as he is impossible to fire or have any other work-related punishment.

  3. Talking with NoiseGuy. He has apparent personality issues. I don’t want to mess with that. Most likely he would be even more noisy knowing he is bothering someone.

  4. Having a meltdown and going to his office and slam the door close. I fantasize about this, but he will just open the door again and I would be the crazy one in the office.

  • ragebutt@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
    7·
    2 months ago

    IMO you go to him and ask politely for him to knock it off or shut the door.

    If he doesn’t then you go again and gently remind him, restating the boundary and saying something like “this is a shared workspace. If you can’t respect other people’s needs then I will need to discuss this with a mediator” or whatever.

    Then escalate as appropriate.

    Keep in mind some of this is on him and some of this is on you. Whistling, singing, shouting out? Bad form on his part.

    “Stapling papers at full power”? Yawning? Honestly, even just saying “well!”? People exist and make noise friend, welcome to the hell of an open office, maybe get some headphones or loops if you’re that sensitive to noise?

    On one hand excessive noise is unacceptable and should be reprimanded. On the other hand some noise here and there is inherent to a shared office space. Figuring out which is which is within the scope of hr so maybe tag them in but always keep in mind their ultimate purpose is to protect the company

  • witty_username@feddit.nl
    6·
    2 months ago

    If you have the funds, consider buying noise cancelling headphones. Then go to your boss. Make sure to show them that you want to be respectful and considerate.
    Avoid giving off the impression that you are sewing discontent among your colleagues. Chances are that managers will not help you if they get the impression that you are being excessively fussy, or worse, that you are orchestrating discontent among your colleagues.

    • flatbield@beehaw.orgEnglish
      1·
      2 months ago

      If nothing else put on ear protection or ear plugs. If you wear hearing aids some have a noise block freature.

  • mathemachristian[he]@lemmy.ml
    2·
    2 months ago

    I think talking with your boss would be the best thing if talking with Noisy Guy directly is not something you think is feasible. That would be the first step to escalation, talking to someone elses boss or human resources directly is typically frowned upon I believe since corporations have a very hierarchical structure and stepping outside of that is very uncommon. If enough people talk to your boss about it they might be able to escalate it further, if it’s a demonstrably sufficiently large problem (i.e. it affects ROI somehow) then it might get escalated up to someone who is directly above Noisy Guy and can do something about it.

    HR isn’t really for interpersonal problems, it is the branch of the corporation that deals with the legalese of having people in employ. I. e. Hiring/firing, wage payment and issues, vacation days etc. anything that (potentially) touches upon legal issues. If you have anything protected under law then that’s HR’s job. But even then, “troublemakers”, for example people filing complaints about illegal sexual harassment, should be aware that the company’s interest is to it’s profit line first and will only do as much as it can be prosecuted for. If they have to fire the harasser they will, but that’s a loss on their part and if they believe that this could be recurring problem with the victim they’d rather terminate the victims employment to mitigate their loss. HR’s primary concern is shielding the corporation from legal harm and they care about your work environment only in as much as it affects your output. So if employing you is more trouble than it’s worth, you’re gone.

    Exceptions, variations apply of course and are typically tied to the corporations size.

    My approach, depending on your boss, talk to them about how it’s affecting you personally if they’re amiable to you. If they like you they might relate and want to solve it because people like helping each other, but give them something about how it hurts collective performance so they can argue why this problem needs a solution to their higher ups. Know your and your colleagues works worth. If what you produce is absolutely vital to the companies success then wham bam they should be out of there. If you are easily replaced, you need to be a bit more diplomatic. As always there is more power in collective bargaining than individual.