Dr. J. and Madame E. Answer All
Q:
A lady in the open office space we all occupy talks so loud on the phone you can hear her down the hall. The rest of us can't concentrate or answer calls when she is on the phone. She is very nice but just can't seem to keep it down. How do we get her to speak quietly?
Signed,
Ear plugs in the office
Dear Ear Plugs, Choose the most diplomatic person in the office to approach her and gently explain the problem. (I am often told that I am too loud and I try to tone it down.) If that does not work, can she be relocated in an area with a sound proof cubicle?
Madame E.
P.S. Is she talking with people who are hard of hearing??
Dear Ear Plugs. Have you heard of Aversion Therapy? It is a treatment used by psychologist in which a patient is exposed to a stimulus while simultaneously being subjected to some form of discomfort. Aversion Therapy is successfully used to reduce the incidence of inappropriate and destructive behavior. In this particular case I would recommend the following. Get a small digital recorder and record one of your co-workers loud conversations. Then, the next time she is on the phone, being loud, walk into her cube and play back the recording. Turn it up LOUD! When she complains, use the oppotunity to discuss her telephone behavior. Easy...
Dr Jim.
Thank you all for your comments on this feature. We appreciate your honest feedback.
Publisher | 2010-09-18 08:37:36
I think the issue with this column is that it's too odd to be taken seriously but not funny enough to be parody. I can't help wondering which it's really supposed to be.
Mark | 2010-09-17 19:31:48
I don't want to be rude, but honestly I'm not liking this "Ask Dr. Jim and Madame E" part of Holliston Reporter. The answers don't seem realistic and some are plain rude. I'm not the only one who thinks so either. Looks like we won't be reading this anymore. Sorry.
Dorreen | 2010-09-17 10:55:55
Talk to the person that is her supervisor and let them discuss it with her. To sabotage work productivity by trying to distract her while on the phone is unprofessional. She may have a more serious problem such as hearing loss and may not even realize she is talking loudly. I doubt she will be relocated to a sound proof cubicle. Sound proofing is far too expensive, you would be better off to lay her off. On a serious note, i question the validity of this article. While i like the idea of this column I would prefer to see real solutions to problems being discussed. This column comes across as a joke and i really don't understand if you are trying to help people solve problems or just making fun of people... Give us something with substance because you don't want poor quality hurting your readership.
chris | 2010-09-17 07:46:04