What's the polite way to tell a coworker to leave me alone?
.everyoneloves__top-leaderboard:empty,.everyoneloves__mid-leaderboard:empty,.everyoneloves__bot-mid-leaderboard:empty{ margin-bottom:0;
}
I work with this one elderly coworker who is literally a chatterbox.
He loves talking regardless who it is - clients, coworkers, random telemarketing guys, recruiters, you name it, he doesn't need a reason to start blabbing. He tells them all his life story. Even the recruiter calling for an ex-employee reference gets to listen to what he did over the weekend.
He just walks into my cube every time he is bored and starts some random conversation out of the blue regardless I am busy or not. Today he did the same while I was working on something really important for the client. I told him I am busy and will continue the topic at a later time. He will leave and in 10 minutes he is back with a different story. I repeated the same, he was back in another 15 minutes and started blabbing again. Finally, I told him that I am really busy, I need to focus, so quit interrupting me and he just stormed out.
How do you deal with this kind of people at workplace?
I work for a small business company with only 6 employees, so it's hard to avoid these type of personalities nor argue with them. But unless you are straight out on their face this guy won't gets it. If I give him indirect clue that he's being annoying, he immediately asks - What does that suppose to mean? I deal with this on a daily basis.
We don't have HR and the boss lives out of state. So anything goes in the office and he's senior employee here though most of the time he doesn't have a clue what's going on with any work related issues.
colleagues behavior unprofessional
edited 2 mins ago
DarkCygnus
39.7k1887169
asked 1 hour ago
yonikawayonikawa
1167
|
show 1 more comment
I work with this one elderly coworker who is literally a chatterbox.
He loves talking regardless who it is - clients, coworkers, random telemarketing guys, recruiters, you name it, he doesn't need a reason to start blabbing. He tells them all his life story. Even the recruiter calling for an ex-employee reference gets to listen to what he did over the weekend.
He just walks into my cube every time he is bored and starts some random conversation out of the blue regardless I am busy or not. Today he did the same while I was working on something really important for the client. I told him I am busy and will continue the topic at a later time. He will leave and in 10 minutes he is back with a different story. I repeated the same, he was back in another 15 minutes and started blabbing again. Finally, I told him that I am really busy, I need to focus, so quit interrupting me and he just stormed out.
How do you deal with this kind of people at workplace?
I work for a small business company with only 6 employees, so it's hard to avoid these type of personalities nor argue with them. But unless you are straight out on their face this guy won't gets it. If I give him indirect clue that he's being annoying, he immediately asks - What does that suppose to mean? I deal with this on a daily basis.
We don't have HR and the boss lives out of state. So anything goes in the office and he's senior employee here though most of the time he doesn't have a clue what's going on with any work related issues.
colleagues behavior unprofessional
edited 2 mins ago
DarkCygnus
39.7k1887169
asked 1 hour ago
yonikawayonikawa
1167
2
Do you want an answer or is this just a rant?
– thursdaysgeek
56 mins ago
1
@thursdaysgeek - I want to know if I addressed the situation correctly by telling him not to interrupt me up straight. I know it will happen again and was wondering if there is a better way to handle it next time.
– yonikawa
53 mins ago
1
Someone once wrote: "No one is born as a genius.You learn from experience and mistakes and you move on.Unless your maturity level makes you consider yourself the ideal person in the world who don't make mistakes, doesn't need anyone else's help(which obviously reflects from your statement), you don't have to put your foot down or talk down on a coworker who needs help and unfortunately thinks you are the person to ask for." I can't remember who that was...
– Joe Strazzere
43 mins ago
2
I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because the extreme lack of respect and basic human decency.
– bruglesco
32 mins ago
1
I did some edits to the post, to remove the not-so-nice words and phrases, so readers can focus on answering the question/helping instead.
– DarkCygnus
1 min ago
|
show 1 more comment
I work with this one elderly coworker who is literally a chatterbox.
He loves talking regardless who it is - clients, coworkers, random telemarketing guys, recruiters, you name it, he doesn't need a reason to start blabbing. He tells them all his life story. Even the recruiter calling for an ex-employee reference gets to listen to what he did over the weekend.
He just walks into my cube every time he is bored and starts some random conversation out of the blue regardless I am busy or not. Today he did the same while I was working on something really important for the client. I told him I am busy and will continue the topic at a later time. He will leave and in 10 minutes he is back with a different story. I repeated the same, he was back in another 15 minutes and started blabbing again. Finally, I told him that I am really busy, I need to focus, so quit interrupting me and he just stormed out.
How do you deal with this kind of people at workplace?
I work for a small business company with only 6 employees, so it's hard to avoid these type of personalities nor argue with them. But unless you are straight out on their face this guy won't gets it. If I give him indirect clue that he's being annoying, he immediately asks - What does that suppose to mean? I deal with this on a daily basis.
We don't have HR and the boss lives out of state. So anything goes in the office and he's senior employee here though most of the time he doesn't have a clue what's going on with any work related issues.
colleagues behavior unprofessional
edited 2 mins ago
DarkCygnus
39.7k1887169
asked 1 hour ago
yonikawayonikawa
1167
I work with this one elderly coworker who is literally a chatterbox.
He loves talking regardless who it is - clients, coworkers, random telemarketing guys, recruiters, you name it, he doesn't need a reason to start blabbing. He tells them all his life story. Even the recruiter calling for an ex-employee reference gets to listen to what he did over the weekend.
He just walks into my cube every time he is bored and starts some random conversation out of the blue regardless I am busy or not. Today he did the same while I was working on something really important for the client. I told him I am busy and will continue the topic at a later time. He will leave and in 10 minutes he is back with a different story. I repeated the same, he was back in another 15 minutes and started blabbing again. Finally, I told him that I am really busy, I need to focus, so quit interrupting me and he just stormed out.
How do you deal with this kind of people at workplace?
I work for a small business company with only 6 employees, so it's hard to avoid these type of personalities nor argue with them. But unless you are straight out on their face this guy won't gets it. If I give him indirect clue that he's being annoying, he immediately asks - What does that suppose to mean? I deal with this on a daily basis.
We don't have HR and the boss lives out of state. So anything goes in the office and he's senior employee here though most of the time he doesn't have a clue what's going on with any work related issues.
colleagues behavior unprofessional
colleagues behavior unprofessional
edited 2 mins ago
DarkCygnus
39.7k1887169
asked 1 hour ago
yonikawayonikawa
1167
edited 2 mins ago
DarkCygnus
39.7k1887169
asked 1 hour ago
yonikawayonikawa
1167
edited 2 mins ago
DarkCygnus
39.7k1887169
edited 2 mins ago
DarkCygnus
39.7k1887169
edited 2 mins ago
DarkCygnus
39.7k1887169
39.7k1887169
asked 1 hour ago
yonikawayonikawa
1167
asked 1 hour ago
yonikawayonikawa
1167
asked 1 hour ago
yonikawayonikawa
1167
1167
2
Do you want an answer or is this just a rant?
– thursdaysgeek
56 mins ago
1
@thursdaysgeek - I want to know if I addressed the situation correctly by telling him not to interrupt me up straight. I know it will happen again and was wondering if there is a better way to handle it next time.
– yonikawa
53 mins ago
1
Someone once wrote: "No one is born as a genius.You learn from experience and mistakes and you move on.Unless your maturity level makes you consider yourself the ideal person in the world who don't make mistakes, doesn't need anyone else's help(which obviously reflects from your statement), you don't have to put your foot down or talk down on a coworker who needs help and unfortunately thinks you are the person to ask for." I can't remember who that was...
– Joe Strazzere
43 mins ago
2
I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because the extreme lack of respect and basic human decency.
– bruglesco
32 mins ago
1
I did some edits to the post, to remove the not-so-nice words and phrases, so readers can focus on answering the question/helping instead.
– DarkCygnus
1 min ago
|
show 1 more comment
2
Do you want an answer or is this just a rant?
– thursdaysgeek
56 mins ago
1
@thursdaysgeek - I want to know if I addressed the situation correctly by telling him not to interrupt me up straight. I know it will happen again and was wondering if there is a better way to handle it next time.
– yonikawa
53 mins ago
1
Someone once wrote: "No one is born as a genius.You learn from experience and mistakes and you move on.Unless your maturity level makes you consider yourself the ideal person in the world who don't make mistakes, doesn't need anyone else's help(which obviously reflects from your statement), you don't have to put your foot down or talk down on a coworker who needs help and unfortunately thinks you are the person to ask for." I can't remember who that was...
– Joe Strazzere
43 mins ago
2
I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because the extreme lack of respect and basic human decency.
– bruglesco
32 mins ago
1
I did some edits to the post, to remove the not-so-nice words and phrases, so readers can focus on answering the question/helping instead.
– DarkCygnus
1 min ago
2
2
Do you want an answer or is this just a rant?
– thursdaysgeek
56 mins ago
Do you want an answer or is this just a rant?
– thursdaysgeek
56 mins ago
1
1
@thursdaysgeek - I want to know if I addressed the situation correctly by telling him not to interrupt me up straight. I know it will happen again and was wondering if there is a better way to handle it next time.
– yonikawa
53 mins ago
@thursdaysgeek - I want to know if I addressed the situation correctly by telling him not to interrupt me up straight. I know it will happen again and was wondering if there is a better way to handle it next time.
– yonikawa
53 mins ago
1
1
Someone once wrote: "No one is born as a genius.You learn from experience and mistakes and you move on.Unless your maturity level makes you consider yourself the ideal person in the world who don't make mistakes, doesn't need anyone else's help(which obviously reflects from your statement), you don't have to put your foot down or talk down on a coworker who needs help and unfortunately thinks you are the person to ask for." I can't remember who that was...
– Joe Strazzere
43 mins ago
Someone once wrote: "No one is born as a genius.You learn from experience and mistakes and you move on.Unless your maturity level makes you consider yourself the ideal person in the world who don't make mistakes, doesn't need anyone else's help(which obviously reflects from your statement), you don't have to put your foot down or talk down on a coworker who needs help and unfortunately thinks you are the person to ask for." I can't remember who that was...
– Joe Strazzere
43 mins ago
2
2
I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because the extreme lack of respect and basic human decency.
– bruglesco
32 mins ago
I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because the extreme lack of respect and basic human decency.
– bruglesco
32 mins ago
1
1
I did some edits to the post, to remove the not-so-nice words and phrases, so readers can focus on answering the question/helping instead.
– DarkCygnus
1 min ago
I did some edits to the post, to remove the not-so-nice words and phrases, so readers can focus on answering the question/helping instead.
– DarkCygnus
1 min ago
|
show 1 more comment
0
active
oldest
votes
Your Answer
StackExchange.ready(function() {
var channelOptions = {
tags: "".split(" "),
id: "423"
};
initTagRenderer("".split(" "), "".split(" "), channelOptions);
StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function() {
// Have to fire editor after snippets, if snippets enabled
if (StackExchange.settings.snippets.snippetsEnabled) {
StackExchange.using("snippets", function() {
createEditor();
});
}
else {
createEditor();
}
});
function createEditor() {
StackExchange.prepareEditor({
heartbeatType: 'answer',
autoActivateHeartbeat: false,
convertImagesToLinks: false,
noModals: true,
showLowRepImageUploadWarning: true,
reputationToPostImages: null,
bindNavPrevention: true,
postfix: "",
imageUploader: {
brandingHtml: "Powered by u003ca class="icon-imgur-white" href="https://imgur.com/"u003eu003c/au003e",
contentPolicyHtml: "User contributions licensed under u003ca href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/"u003ecc by-sa 3.0 with attribution requiredu003c/au003e u003ca href="https://stackoverflow.com/legal/content-policy"u003e(content policy)u003c/au003e",
allowUrls: true
},
noCode: true, onDemand: true,
discardSelector: ".discard-answer"
,immediatelyShowMarkdownHelp:true
});
}
});
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
StackExchange.ready(
function () {
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fworkplace.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f134069%2fwhats-the-polite-way-to-tell-a-coworker-to-leave-me-alone%23new-answer', 'question_page');
}
);
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
0
active
oldest
votes
0
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
Thanks for contributing an answer to The Workplace Stack Exchange!
- Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!
But avoid …
- Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.
- Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.
To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
StackExchange.ready(
function () {
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fworkplace.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f134069%2fwhats-the-polite-way-to-tell-a-coworker-to-leave-me-alone%23new-answer', 'question_page');
}
);
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
2
Do you want an answer or is this just a rant?
– thursdaysgeek
56 mins ago
1
@thursdaysgeek - I want to know if I addressed the situation correctly by telling him not to interrupt me up straight. I know it will happen again and was wondering if there is a better way to handle it next time.
– yonikawa
53 mins ago
1
Someone once wrote: "No one is born as a genius.You learn from experience and mistakes and you move on.Unless your maturity level makes you consider yourself the ideal person in the world who don't make mistakes, doesn't need anyone else's help(which obviously reflects from your statement), you don't have to put your foot down or talk down on a coworker who needs help and unfortunately thinks you are the person to ask for." I can't remember who that was...
– Joe Strazzere
43 mins ago
2
I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because the extreme lack of respect and basic human decency.
– bruglesco
32 mins ago
1
I did some edits to the post, to remove the not-so-nice words and phrases, so readers can focus on answering the question/helping instead.
– DarkCygnus
1 min ago