Told not to chat so much or hum at work.

[whatisforteamum]

So today I was told I'm too chatty at work.
Sometimes I hum apparently.The role is a busy active one with customers and colleagues. One lady dislikes me so
reported me.The thing is I do work while I chat and I've always been like this.
I'm even thinking of seeking an ADHD diagnosis and I'm quite hyperactive.
I'm not upset by the personality assassination yet I don't know how to stop.
How can I stop realistically?
Another boss said I was cheerful and like a breath of fresh air.😁

Do you sing along to the music on the radio?

Well, one person’s ‘breath of fresh air’ is another person’s murderously irritating.

The humming would be very annoying.

Chatting to others is something that they should equally take blame as if it’s annoying ir interfering with their work they should shut you down by telling you they can’t chat at that moment etc.

Yes your humming would do my head in.

Chatting to colleagues, well you are there to work; your chatter would do my head in..

Sorry.

About stopping: Place a post it note 'Lippy Zippy' on your monitor edge? The humming is it an unconscious thing or do you bop along to capital radio or whatever is piped in?

My colleague (who I like) talks to herself incessantly. I would rather humming I think but can see it would be annoying if you are trying to concentrate. I'd rather work with a cheerful person though so would never say anything.

In my experience … working in an office, operational, dynamic role I found that ..

If a colleague needs to concentrate on a task in hand or is committing something to paper which needs thought a chatty or humming colleague can be a total nuisance. It’s a distraction to a colleague’s work flow.

I appreciate you are seeing a professional soon but try to read your colleague’s body language and stem your enthusiasm until (say) a natural break occurs. Keep your chatter away from the one who reported you. Be circumspect.

I expect you are indeed a breath of fresh air for some, but clearly not to that particular colleague who reported you.

Im sure you’ll soon catch onto the tempo of your environment but they do say “empty vessels make most sound.”

Being around could constant noise is really tiring! I had a colleague who drove me crackers with the humming and mumbling; I really liked her otherwise.
I guess you just learn to stop - you could ask colleagues to remind you about the humming if they hear you doing it.

Nothing to concentrate on.
All manual labour tbh.constant moving around and interaction with clients..

Warspite ...brilliant chatty and thick.Love it.😁

You would drive me mad, but I'm used to a quiet office.

Can't you just... stop? I guess humming can be involuntary, but surely you can stop yourself talking?

Eek. We had a 'humming Joanne' in the office for a long time. It was excruciating, not least because she didn't hum any discernible tunes, it was just meandering...tuneless noise.

Lovely woman, but when she announced her early retirement, the first thing most people said (not to her!) was thank fuck, no more humming.

It’s not a character assassination if it’s true, if people are trying to work they don’t need to hear you chat and hum, it distracting, and can be very annoying.

I'm sorry but you really need to try and stop. Feel free to pursue a diagnosis.

”Can it, Janet!”

I would not be able to tolerate you, you’d be like an annoying buzzing fly!

Sorry!

I wouldn't love the humming, and it is definitely possible to have too much chat. Maybe try to rein it in a bit.

See it from the other’s perspective:

In order to get our service users help, my colleagues and I have to call a provider to get a 3-way appointment booked in.

The provider’s phone line has hold times of up to an hour, and one of the staff manning the line is an older male. He would annotate everything single thing he was doing, you would hear “just going to click on “next”” dozens of times during a 5 minute call. He would also read out loud everything on his screen before deciding on what he was going to click next. 2 minute tasks would take 20 with him.

It was very frustrating as it does break your own chain of thought, you can’t focus on your other tasks cause your mind is always switched “on” to the mundane noise someone else is making and whether it’s something you need to respond to…because you’re at work and it’s rude to ignore someone speaking to you. But that’s the thing, you and this man weren’t speaking to your colleague, you’re just thinking out loud and making noise for no reason. It can be distracting and disruptive

What kind of work is it? If I was concentrating on a spreadsheet I wouldn't want to chat or hear someone humming, but if I was stacking shelves for example I would get bored and would appreciate someone to talk to.

I was once told I was too loud in our open plan office. I felt embarrassed at first but now I try harder to be mindful of my nearby colleagues- I'll move to a meeting room or a different area of the office to keep the ambient noise down.

If you're irritating people you really ought to find ways to reduce the irritation. (And I have adhd by the way, it's not licence to be annoying with no attempt to self regulate)

Chatting to others is something that they should equally take blame as if it’s annoying ir interfering with their work they should shut you down by telling you they can’t chat at that moment etc.

it's not as simple as this

i have a colleague who still does not stop

I moved away but not everyone has that option

It’s hardly a ‘character assassination’. She finds you annoying.

I work in an office where there is often a bit of chatter and that’s fine.

But if it were constant, and if I were always expected to be involved / respond - I would find it incredibly annoying.

sometimes you need to triage conversations with colleagues to check whether what you want NEEDS to be discussed there and then.

Eg I have certain colleagues rock up to my desk, expecting me to drop everything to do something for them - they should message me digitally instead so I can reply when I’m free. Or they come up to me to have an extended non work related chat, when now isn’t a good time if I have other things to get on with.

So maybe it’s the timing of your chatty nature that needs to be worked on?

I don't think it's an easy thing to stop. I chat, talk to myself, sing random bits of songs to myself constantly. It's how I regulate and focus.

I could be quiet for short while but it would take a lot of effort and focus, not ideal if I'm meant to be working.

Would you be able to listen to audio books when not interacting with customers? I find that can calm things down a bit.

There's a time and a place for chatty.
I work with lots of chatty people and it's fantastic most of the time. A lot of what I do I can continue while they chat. Just sometimes I'm trying to do something that requires accuracy and concentration. Most of the people will recognise when I've got my head down and will stop the chat. Occasionally I've had to ask them to hold fire on what they're saying until I've finished what I have to do. They always have either obliged or gone elsewhere to chat. It works well.

Humming would drive me loopy though.

Depends what you do. The humming would drive me mad, the chatting? Well if you're talking about every step you're doing to yourself or a colleague 'I'm just going to attach widget x to widget y then I'll take it over and process and start the flange then i'....' ad nauseaum would annoy me. But if its with people who need support because of vulnerability with personal care 'ok Janet, I'm just going to help you off with your nightie then get you into the shower, then I'll start by washing your arms with this sponge' that's needed!

Do you work in an office?

If so constant chatting and humming is completely inappropriate and will have a negative impact on colleagues and their ability to concentrate on their work.

I would understand if you were working in a shop, hairdresser or whatever where you have to greet clients and have a bit of conversation with them as part of the service (although again humming and singing would be inappropriate) but beyond that you really need to learn to keep the noise and chatter down.