Noisy work colleagues - open plan office

HelterSkelter

Just wondering if anyone else has this type of problem working in an open plan office and how you deal with it...

I work in an open plan office, there are about 12 of us in a fairly smallish room. There is a lot of noise from people talking, computer fans, etc. The worst thing though is that there are two people in particular who talk non-stop all day long about all kinds of trivial matters from last night's big brother to their favourite kind of chocolate. I find it very annoying and distracting. My job requires a lot of concentration and this is having a negative effect on my work. The only way I can concentrate is by putting headphones on and turning the music up very loud to block out the noise which is not ideal. I would prefer a quiet enviornment to work in. The thing though is that I like these two people and wouldn't like to get them into trouble by complaining to the boss. If I say anything to them about the noise I think they will be pissed off at me.

Any suggestions.

plenderj

Club them to death with their own limbs and wear their skin.


Being realistic though I had the same problem. I was sitting opposite someone who talked nothing but utter ****e all day, and really loud. So I actually couldn't head what customers were saying when I was on the phone to them.
I spent so much time in an empty office talking to customers that I got moved in there /shrug/

Angels

Turn up your music louder.

Unfortunately theres no way you can have peace & quite in an open plan office. I work in an office like this aswell but if noise levels rise i ask them nicely to quiten down, my collegues would apologise for this & then take it down a peg or two. Other solution is to tell your boss but in a positive way as in 'i like this office, it's great to work in, i like the people in here but as you know yourself noise levels are high at time & it's difficult to concentrate on my work' this way your not getting anyone into trouble your boss should understand this. Hope it helps!!

HelterSkelter

Angels wrote:

Turn up your music louder.

Unfortunately theres no way you can have peace & quite in an open plan office. I work in an office like this aswell but if noise levels rise i ask them nicely to quiten down, my collegues would apologise for this & then take it down a peg or two. Other solution is to tell your boss but in a positive way as in 'i like this office, it's great to work in, i like the people in here but as you know yourself noise levels are high at time & it's difficult to concentrate on my work' this way your not getting anyone into trouble your boss should understand this. Hope it helps!!

Yeah I accept the nature of open plan means there will be noise, but talking about their favourite type of chocolate (I'm not joking here) is way out of line, I think I am going crazy listening to this kind of crap day in day out!!

Mr Magnolia

Perhaps put it to them that someone else in the office is making a lot of noise lately and it's distracting, ask them have they noticed it. This might make them more aware of their own twitterings. Forewarn whoever your talking about incase it gets back to him/her.
Hope you get my drift.

Donegal Lass

im in the exact same position!!

i get really frustrated coz like any1 else, dnt mind a bit of banter, but when it goes as far as the 2 ditzies in the corner discussing what they will be wearing out for the next 6 weeks, i feel i have to draw a line!!

i have a few suggestions:

1.using vicks, putting it under my eyes and crying, thats guaranteed to make every1 go silent as no1 really wants to approach you!!!

this will only work as long as you dnt give a toss bout any1 in the office thinkin your an emotional wreck-and lets face it- it has its advantages??

2.leaving random notes on their desks saying the boss wants to see them.

this works in that the boss gets sick of them turning up at their desk for no apparent reason and issues them with a warning. this leads to the person gettin a little quieter day by day and, because they think they are thought of as incompetent, quite possibly handing in their notice.

ha, now whos the emotional wreck!!

alternatively, do the good old reliable and spread a rumour!! they funnier the better

that'l get them to shut up!!

connundrum

*Pre groan*

You could shoot em.. be sure to use a silencer.

But seriously, I worked in a place where I was directly opposite the sales team and there was one knob who insisted on standing and absolutely shouting down the phone - trying to 'close the deal'.. me hole.

There was nothing we could do, only grin and bear it. After a while his voice just faded into general background noise.

Green_Martian

Have to admit that i would prob be one of the 2 ppl in the corner having a laugh and a bit of joke with my work mate.
But in all fairness we do know when to shut up and stay quite, as you need to respect other ppls work enviroment. Sometimes everybody joins in with us........lol:D

WhiteWashMan

couple of things

you are paid to do a job. if you dont do the job, you get the bollocking.
if someone is stopping you from doing your job, then you have to let your manager know. cover your behind.

it may be that you need a bigger space, i work in an open plan office, and sure, it can be noisey, but its business noise.
if youre getting interference from people talking rubbish, then the manager should know that theres a lot of non work stuff going on.

id have a quiet word, say its intereferring with your work, and ask what can be done about it.

I have this as well, the lads on my office play computer games and I can't say anything to the boss because he does be playing too with them and they can sometimes be loud but I’ve learned to cope by using my earphones and my creative Zen:D
I like to gossip to my mates a lot during the day but unlike my colleagues who seem to be fine with having private conversations in front of everyone, I find it uncomfortable to listen to so I don’t enforce it on anyone.
I slip into a meeting room and have a gossip if they ask why I’m on the phone in another room I say well I’m on the phone with my bank.

and to be honest who wants their boss knowing what time and what exactly they'll be planning to wear to barcode/town that night and how drunk you plan on getting particularly if your in work the next morning

I have to say I am pretty lucky otherwise, I used to work in a call centre type area and I used to want to tear my hair out with listening to all the different people with different voices and accents

Steffano2002

Green_Martian wrote:

Have to admit that i would prob be one of the 2 ppl in the corner having a laugh and a bit of joke with my work mate.
But in all fairness we do know when to shut up and stay quite, as you need to respect other ppls work enviroment. Sometimes everybody joins in with us........lol:D

It's been nothing but quiet since you left though... Everybody noticed it and they now call your the "trouble-maker"! hehehe

The crazy people behind us are still as loud as ever though... Would really like to punch 2 or 3 in the head at times! :mad:

Steffano2002

coolsmileygirl wrote:

I have to say I am pretty lucky otherwise, I used to work in a call centre type area and I used to want to tear my hair out with listening to all the different people with different voices and accents

You racialist!

Green_Martian

LOL.........

I will be back there this afternoon.............Ha ha:p
And i can't wait...........

Have to agree with you though about the ppl behind us. Ever since they arrived we are not the loudest.........:rolleyes:

Im not the trouble maker you are lol

BendiBus

Get a noise cancelling headset for your MP3 player. That will reduce background noise rather than just drown it out.

Civilian_Target

Tell your boss, or buy some good earplugs.

DublinWriter

I worked in a huge open plan office in London about 5 years ago.

Now, English people, on the whole, do speak a lot louder than us normally, and you aclimatise to it, but there was one guy who was partially deaf who used to *roar* down the phone to phone in what he obviously thought was a normal speaking voice...

"ROGER? ROGAAAH! ITS DAVE! YES DAVE! HOW ARE YOU MATE? OH REALLY?"

etc etc etc

...and if that wasn't bad enough, he took delivery of a HP uber-server with about a zillion fans and drives that sounded like a light aircraft taking off which he proceeded to keep under his desk for a month.

Call it fate, Kismet, or Karma, but he was laid off about two months later.

...and there was much rejoicing.

seamus

OK, with all due respect....

You want a quieter work space, but you don't want to approach your boss, and you don't want to say anything to the two biddies? What else is there to do? Say it to your boss, but stress your desire for discretion. Your boss could say to them "I can hear you blathering on". Or if their job is one where they may sit there doing nowt for a while (customer service, for e.g.) recommend they be split, but also recommend IM for their chat.

Alli Babba

Green_Martian wrote:

Have to agree with you though about the ppl behind us. Ever since they arrived we are not the loudest.........:rolleyes:

Im not the trouble maker you are lol

ah u both be moved soon enough
the 2 of you are as quite as anything these days though
No Fun !!!!

Dar

Get yourself a pair of noise cancelling earphones (something along the lines of shure e2c's). They fit inyour ear like earplugs. This means you can listen to music at a fairly low volume and still hear absolutely nothing around you - I use them all the time when commuting.