Unclutterer

1. Posted by Tigerblade - 08/20/2009

   I was confused as to how hanging a sign on a chair or a door would be destroying company furniture until I read the source article. I think you meant to paste this point (actually #4):

   Uncomfortable chair — I have heard of people who cut the front legs of their guest chair off by a few inches so it leaned forward. They didn’t know why they were uncomfortable, but people stopped staying in his office for more than a few minutes and conversations were quick and to the point.

2. Posted by Khürt - 08/20/2009

   I work in cube-land and have been using #4 (without the sign). The downside is that I am often startled as people walk up behind me.

   I have a dry erase board in which I have posted my rules-for-work. One of the rules listed? “Minimize chit chat”. It’s highly visible to all who enter my workspace.

3. Posted by Andrew - 08/20/2009

   Khurt: You sound un-friendly, If i were a co-worker i would be afraid to approach you not knowing if the question i have for you is chit-chat or valid, or whether you’d blow up at me if i asked the wrong question, or what the negative consequences would be.

   I dont like rule number 4. If someone comes to talk to me, and I don’t have time to talk I simply interrupt them and ask if we can talk at another time. Obviously different people work in different environments, but I have never had a problem with unnecessary distractions from others in my workplace. my 2cents.

4. Posted by Loren - 08/20/2009

   Pretty much our entire company uses the ‘back to the cube door’ trick.
   Another one I’d suggest is to wear headphones. Even when I’m not working on a project with sound I leave the headphones in place. It does raise the level of surprise visits but people are also far less likely to talk to you. (I sit next to the printer that is only blocked by a short cubicle wall so everyone can see over it, see what I’m working on and often wants to comment on it or ask me if the printer is working.) I used to do this in the coffee shop or the lounge at school so people wouldn’t try to idly chit-chat with me when I was trying to work.

5. Posted by Erin Doland - 08/20/2009

   @Tigerblade — As I said in the article: “I’m not super fond of his fourth tip (probably best not to destroy your company’s furniture), so I’d replace it with the following:” It wasn’t a typo. I created a new number four … I replaced it.

6. Posted by Amy - 08/20/2009

   Great topic. I do try the standing thing to minimize the length of time people spend in my office. If they aren’t taking the hint, I’ll take a piece of paper from my desk and ask them to excuse me so I can go to the copy machine to get away. If its REALLY bad, I’ve been known to send a quick e-mail to a co-worker asking them to call me so I can pretend that I am receiving a phone call I have to take. They all seem to work for me without hurting feelings.

7. Posted by Anita - 08/20/2009

   Good tips, for those assaulted by chatty co-workers…

   My problem isn’t so much people coming to my office to chat, as people keeping me in their office to chat. My group’s assistant is notorious for this. Whenever I go over to her desk for a quick work question, it’s impossible to leave again before getting a complete run-down on her health, the weather, her garden, her church activities, her kids and her commute. She’s a very sweet lady, so I feel bad cutting her off, but apart from the fact that she’s cutting into my productivity, there are details about a person’s health I don’t particularly want to know about.

8. Posted by L. - 08/20/2009

   Randy Pausch (The Last Lecture) proposed many of these ideas in 2007.

9. Posted by cv - 08/20/2009

   #4 wouldn’t work for me, unfortunately. I work in a very small office, and one or two coworkers tend to just shout across the office, or call on the phone, and they can see whether I’m sitting there or not and expect me to answer if I’m there. They have office doors and frequently close them to get some uninterrupted work time, but have no concept that I (in a cube) might want the same thing now and then. Sigh.

10. Posted by Barbara Benton - 08/20/2009

    Three ideas come to mind:

    1. People are far less likely to interrupt you if you never interrupt them except for essential business. Most will take your cue. (Comes under “what goes around comes around.”)

    2. Obviously, you can’t say this to the boss, but if the person is on a lateral or lower administrative level than you, simply ask him/her not to interrupt you if you are on the phone or your back is to the door.

    3. If the interrupter is someone with whom you need to speak regularly, if practicable, suggest to him/her that, rather than have umpteen tiny conversations, you make an appointment — daily if necessary — to have a face-to-face, sit-down discussion in which you cover everything at once.

11. Posted by PlantingOaks - 08/20/2009

    The original post has some good comments too.

    Someone suggested that a less destructive way to implement the tilted chair technique would be to raise the back legs of the chair. Maybe using those stick-on furniture glides? Still wouldn’t work with the wheeled chairs we have here. Of course, you could always swap for an already broken one. (every company has a few of those chairs with the back chronically mis-adjusted in their meeting rooms, don’t they?)

    I also like the idea to consciously keep doing what you’re doing for 10 seconds or so when someone comes in. Or the lifting but not removing headphones.

12. Posted by AMPerry - 08/20/2009

    Telecommuting has helped reduce the distraction tremendously.

13. Posted by Erin Doland - 08/20/2009

    @Barbara — I love your #1.

14. Posted by Katie Alender - 08/20/2009

    You could also be honest and say, “I’m totally in the weeds today–what can I help you with?” and if they start to chat, ask to talk about it at lunch or something.

    A lot of those suggestions smack of passive-aggressiveness, which just makes for an uncomfortable and unpleasant workplace.

    That said, I second telecommuting!

15. Posted by Rachel - 08/20/2009

    Headphones are just about the only thing that works in my office. We have no walls, so people get in the habit of talking across the room to each other, making requests and asking questions without getting up from their own desks. By wearing headphones, I force people to wait until they have an issue important enough to interrupt me–and force them to get up and walk over to me.

    A quiet space to work is one of the things I look forward to most about freelancing from a home office!

16. Posted by matte - 08/20/2009

    I have a “cube door” on my cube. A retractable, see-through piece black mesh that lets people know that I’m SUPER busy and can’t be bothered. Because it’s see-through it doesn’t completely brush people off. It’s available at http://www.cubedoor.com (I do not work for them)

17. Posted by Karen - 08/20/2009

    Believe it or not, those of us who work at home (homeschooling mom here) are prone to interrupters. In my case it’s neighbors who seem to think I have all the time in the world to chat. I don’t. During the school year I need to get my kids’ school done, on top of my housework and other things. So I put a sign up on the front door, saying, “Please come back later, School in session until 4:00″. Seems unfriendly, I know, but you would be amazed at how many people think homeschooling moms are just slackers with nothing to do.

18. Posted by Kate - 08/20/2009

    I love that “cubedoor”, but it would never fly in my office. I get flak for putting up a sign that says “On a Conference Call” so that people don’t think I have my headset on for no reason! Sometimes I am fine with being interrupted, but when I’m not, I use the technique of standing up when someone comes in to my cube. I also *always* knock on someone’s door (or cube wall) and ask if it’s a good time before just assuming they have do, although not everyone returns the favor… oh well!

19. Posted by Michelle - 08/20/2009

    Barbara’s #1 is key. Once people see that I only chit-chat in the break rooms and hallways, and only come to their desks to talk business or ask if they have time for a break, they tend to imitate that behavior.

20. Posted by Julia - 08/20/2009

    A quick warning about “I also like the idea to consciously keep doing what you’re doing for 10 seconds or so when someone comes in.” I had a supervisor many years ago who did that. He sent a very strong message that anything he might be doing was obviously MUCH more important than any poor human who walked in his office.

    I would suggest that this one be used carefully, if at all; it cost that man a great deal of good will. On the other hand, no one interrupted him unless they absolutely had to – which meant he lost out on all the information information that goes around an office.

21. Posted by Amy - 08/20/2009

    I really dislike most of these suggestions. They sound so passive-aggressive and who wants to feel that they need to ward off people all of the time? Why not be cheerful, and honest. Say “…I hope that answered your question but I need to get back to work” (with a smile on your face)? You could even add “because I’ll talk your ear off.” The only tactic I like is standing up to greet someone.

    Do you want to be known as someone who never has an open door policy of communication? In response to Barbara’s #2, I don’t think that it is safe to assume that you can treat people differently at different levels. People have a way of getting promoted. Also, I used to be the assistant to an Administrator who used to ask me for my opinion of how different people are to work with especially if there was a pending complaint or promotion. I would not want my colleagues having a negative impression of how I interact with others.

    And unless your job requires wearing headphones, it can look unprofessional. Unless you overcompensate when they are not on, and I don’t mean by having a “do not disturb unless it’s an emergency” sign on your door, I cannot see this strategy advancing anyone’s career.

    I do agree on personally keep your conversations short and sweet. People will not have to get a “hint,” they will just understand that you are professional, but not be left with the impression that you cannot stand the whole office.

22. Posted by Lisa D - 08/20/2009

    I work in an open office with six people, all within 10 feet of me. (Hey, it’s a nonprofit – space is at a premium!). I find that it’s generally only a few people who are either really talkative or just don’t read non-verbal cues very well. I finally gave up and at a staff meeting I specifically asked if we could keep the ‘yell your questions across the room’ to a minimum and walk over and talk to people instead. Some days I’ve also just mentioned to 2 of the talkative people that I’m on a deadline and am trying to finish up a project. I was worried people would be offended but I’ve found as long as I’m nice it works out – people who are a bit clueless sometimes just really don’t realize how disruptive they are being.

23. Posted by Pam R. - 08/20/2009

    I worked in an office setting where people tried this… and were considered “not team players” for doing so. I gave up and let anyone walk in any time. My co-worker continued to put up signs. (By the way, the workload and time pressures were tough so blocking needlessly talkative time-wasters was helpful.) My co-worker got laid off in a staff cutback despite the fact that she had been there 10 years and I had been there 2. To this day, I’m pretty convinced it was her attempt to block people that contributed to her being considered a non-team-player and subsequent layoff. Sad but true state of a lot of modern business settings. (this was a high-paced hospital fund-raising dept. so glad I have moved on!)

24. Posted by Jenn - 08/20/2009

    I love this website and thought this was a great topic. I agree that a lot of the suggestions seem passive-aggressive, but each industry is different and sometimes we have to resort to subterfuge to get things done.

    Case in point: I am a high school teacher, and I swear I start and end each day with a crying child (or colleague.) I honestly don’t mind the human factor much of the time, but there are some days when the deadline is very real (end of a grading period, day of the AP exam, that sort of thing) and even if I lock the door people stand there and pound or come in through the adjacent classroom, because I surely don’t mean to exclude them, right? So I realized that A) I created this problem by extensive availability and B) that headphones are a miracle.

    But I would never put up a sign or cut down furniture.

    Every so often, people just need to say, “This isn’t a great time for me, and I want to give you my complete attention. Could you come back in _____ minutes or can we talk tomorrow?”

25. Posted by Kathy - 08/21/2009

    I’m in human resources, so there’s a bit of an “open door” requirement… an “all are welcome” air needs to be part of the process.

    So, it’s important for me to be able to judge (quickly) whether or not this is going to be an important or just a chitchatty conversation, and manage it and expectations early on.

    MOST people will come to my office and ask “Do you have a few minutes?” and I have a clock that it facing me, next to the office door (they all can see I’m looking at it) and when it’s someone I know to be a chitchatter, I say, “Sure – I have about 5 minutes – what’s on your mind?” And if it’s someone who rarely comes by and so i know must be important, I say “absolutely – come on in and sit down” and I can manage it from there. If the chitchatter actually has something important going on, I can always say “let’s spend more time on this — does now work for you, or should we set up time later?”

    People can get trained as to my style, and we figure out a way that works. For the few that come in and chat at this point, I have no problem saying, “I hate to wrap this up, but I’ve got some things to prepare before my next meeting. I’m glad we had a chance to catch up, though!” and off they go.

26. Posted by crunchycon - 08/21/2009

    I have this problem, as I live in a cube farm. Most people are very respectful of one another, but my team mate (who is a dear woman with the best heart) loves to stand in my doorway and go into detail about her health and her child (and I’m pretty much the only childfree person in the department, so I’m really the last person to want to hear the adventures). In addition to wearing headphones, I have a faux crime scene tape that I use to block my cube door, which helps sometimes. On the plus side, my touch-typing has improved exponentially, as I keep typing while I’m “listening” so I can get a little work done! Keep the suggestions coming!

27. Posted by Jay - 08/22/2009

    Every workplace is different. Where I work, doing one’s work is important, as is working with and getting along with others. Talking about personal things is OK at lunch, in the kitchenette area, in the bathroom, etc., and in small doses in people’s work areas and offices.

    However, where I work, it is not acceptable to spend a lot of work time talking about personal things, i.e., not working.

    Some people don’t seem to grasp this and come by colleagues’ work areas to talk about personal things, such as football, kids, vacations, etc. A boss observing such a conversation sees TWO people wasting company time. I have a choice: be polite to the converser (and be seen wasting company time) OR get the person out of my office. I choose the latter. In the friendliest tone I can muster, I simply tell the person I need to finish some work and wish him or her luck with their ________ (vacation, kids, etc.).

    Also, where I work, if the boss sees you regularly talking about personal things at your desk, the boss will see you as in need of more work and dump additional projects on you.

28. Posted by Cate - 08/22/2009

    I had a ‘higher-up’ ask a co-worker how she felt about me wearing my headphones. Luckily she said she would need them too if she didn’t have a door and worked in a cube farm.
    I was completely clueless that someone wouldn’t interrupt me because of it. I hadn’t thought that I ever gave off that vibe.
    So now whenever I find anyone looking at me while I am lip-syncing in my cube to some 80s pop – we laugh and I explain I was having a hard time concentrating and we move on.
    AND I had a conversation with my supervisor so we were on the same page in case that ‘higher-up’ went to her about it.
    Communication is the key.

29. Posted by Rebecca - 08/25/2009

    I think the key to all of this is finding a solution that works for everyone’s corporate (or non-corporate) culture. What seems rude or passive-aggresive to one may be essential or appropriate to another.

    I also have a few people in my office who are constantly coming by (not just to me, but to everyone) to chit chat or complain. Talk about frustrating, idle chit chat is one thing but constant complaining about work, life, existence is a really sore subject around here. I’ve personally implimented several of the suggestions here and on the original article’s comments – headphones, a whiteboard note (BUSY!), not looking up right away, telling someone to come back later – but the person still comes to complain or chit chat when it is not appropriate. The really hard thing about all of this for me is the impression of being unavailable or unfriendly. The fact of the matter is, I am unavailable for complaints or chit chat at certain times and being very direct about it is not always effective.

    On the same note as others, I’ve addressed this with my direct supervisor in order to mitigate any extraneous effect it may have on my performance evaluation, etc. I’ve been told by my supervisor that if that is my tactic for being productive and it is used appropriately, there is no problem. As long as I am avaialble to do my job, the approach I use to get the work done is less important.

    This was such a great and timely article, much appreciated. I tend to forget that clutter comes in many different forms, not just belongings!

30. Posted by Jude - 08/25/2009

    I’m a librarian. The sign by my door reads “You are not an interruption.” My job *is* the interruptions–to help anyone who walks in the door with anything they need help with. Thus, I can’t relate to this.

31. Posted by dtj - 08/31/2009

    Back when I was spending more than full time in my office, I had a sign that simply said “GO AWAY!”. Plus the window in my door was covered with paper, so people couldn’t see in. I had no desire to talk to people who couldn’t overcome such a minor inconvenience to talk to me. My work group completely ignored it. Folks who couldn’t handle the sign usually emailed me.

    This approach clearly doesn’t work everywhere, but in our insular environment it worked pretty well.

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