How to Get Your Annoying Co-worker to Leave You Alone
When someone’s irritating behavior doesn’t quite rise to the level of HR reporting, but it also makes it harder to do your job, what should you do? We asked a couple of experts for their ideas.
1. Talk to a trusted co-worker.
As a first step toward resolution, Robert Sutton, organizational psychologist and author of The No Asshole Rule: Building a Civilized Workplace and Surviving One That Isn’t, suggests utilizing what he calls a workplace’s “gossip network” to get more information, and maybe even a messenger. “Try to figure out if there’s a social network connection with somebody who can get this guy the message that he’s annoying her,” says Sutton. “I’m a big believer in finding out who knows who, who you can get the message to.”
This can work in two ways: In the best-case scenario, you find someone who can tactfully solve the problem for you. And if you can’t find that, you might at least find a sympathetic ear. A general rule vis-à-vis annoying people is that if they’re annoying you, they’re probably annoying other people, too. Having someone to vent with can help alleviate some of that frustration.
Have a direct conversation with the person bugging you!
