To think if I'm on the phone at work, don't start asking me a question.

[Hammy02]

I spend a fair bit of my time on the phone at work as this is the nature of the role. There are a few people that seem oblivious to this and walk up to me & start talking to me despite this. I always point at the phone and then they stop talking. FFS, how clear do I have to make it that I am not going to have two conversations at the same time?! Drives me mad.

God, they do this to me too. I actively swivel my chair away from them so that I cant see their mad hand flapping and charades, lol.....it is infuriating I have to admit. So yeah, swivel away from them or just swat them like flies!

YANBU.
But making "I'm of the phone, I'll come and talk to you after I'm free" gestures or "send me an email" gestures will make them go away temporarily and you can shout at them for their stupidity later .

on. Not of. Obviously.

You wouldn't like me then

I don't want cosy chats with people who are on the phone but I will interrupt them briefly and calmly if they are on endless calls and I need to talk to them urgently about work.

Expecially if they're talking to someone and there's something very important they need to know about the situation but don't.

Usually, this amounts to me catching their eye and mouthing: 'When you have a minute...' Often I write a brief note so they know what I want to talk about.

I fully expect people to do this to me and so do most of my colleagues.

But I'm amazed by those who are unable to say to the caller: 'Hold on a second please,' or nod at me and mouth: 'ok' and resume their call.

I think colleagues who go into a major huff at being expected to handle two simple things at once should go and work somewhere less busy.

YANBU. It's plain rude. Rude, rude, rude! I 've never tolerated my children interrupting me while I'm on the phone and I sure as hell won't put up with adults doing it. And, if they do, they get spoken to just as I would have spoken to my kids!

I've also committed the sin of talking to someone before noticing they are on the phone.

A simple: 'Sorry, I'll come back later,' should suffice but with certain people doesn't.

Perhaps these people should think about wearing flashing lights or making all their calls from home or solitary confinement.

Limited I dont have cosy chats at work...if I am on the phone at work it is about a matter relating to work.........I dont expect to be interrupted, it's rude - why should the person I am talking to wait because you cant!

Soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo annoying!!

limited I think the problem is that for you (and me) it is very easy to have a conversation on the phone and quickly find out why someone is eager to talk to us, but for other people its a bit more difficult. We have to remember that. Im the same, if I hear someone on the phone to someone and I know who they are talking to and I have some information regarding what they are talking about I want to tell them. Otherwise they have to ring them back which has happened a few times. Also if Im on the phone and there's something important happening (eg my arse is on fire) Id want to know ASAP.

Obviously if its nothing important or just someone wants some help with something then yes they can wait, but sometimes the person trying to get the attention of the person on the phone might have something really important to say and to say on the phone "can you hold on a sec" really takes no doing IMO.

People who do this are usually the same people who enter a room talking - just breeze right in talking at you.

Because obviously the conversation you happen to be having with another person is completely unimportant compared to their vital interruption

Yanbu! Catching your eye is alright, but starting talking is just out of order. Limited, that might work in your office but not in most!

Another pet hate of mine is people asking me questions when I am eating, particularly if its a hot meal. Due to the idiot powers that be cutting our department too small logistics in our department we generally have to eat our lunch at our desk in case something major kicks off and we're needed. But people will walk into the office and just stand next to my desk looking at me until I ask them if they need help, without looking around to see if there is someone else who can help! FFS, we're a small firm, they know there are at least two other people in my dept who could help them, they could at least look before asking me! And it is never an emergency, its nothing they couldn't say 'give me a call when you've finished your lunch'.

I worked with a guy, in my previous life, who used to march into my office in full flow, whilst I was on the phone, asking inane questions about stuff that had absolutely nothing to do with my remit. Knowing full well I was on the phone.
.... and he would keep going even when I put my hand over the receiver and hissed at him.

fart you understand.

betty I don't have cosy chats either -well sometimes I do, it's part of what makes working in an office fun. But like fart said, if I was on the phone and was about to blunder into something or fail to ask an important question I'd be very annoyed if someone waited until I'd put the phone down to tell me about my fuck-up.

And yes, this has happened. Not to me, because I don't panic at interruptions, but to colleagues who do.

I've also worked with people who can't make phone calls in front of others or require silence and think this is normal behaviour in a busy office

It's not that I can't have 2 conversations at once. I don't think I should have to. As I earn just above the minimum wage & don't see why I should

My boss starts a conversation with you in the room and then walks out carring on the conversation as he is going down the corridor (can't hear a word!). Also very annoying. Along with people who take imaginary golf swings or tennis shots when they talk to you [grins]

even lol

YANBU! BUT..... how many people ignore a ringing phone whilst talking to someone? IME not that many. I hate that the phone takes precedence over people present in the flesh.

If I am on the phone and someone else starts talking to me, the person on the phone takes priority. If I am talking to someone and the phone rings, the person I am talking to takes priority.
Unless the person interrupting my telephone call is telling me that the building is on fire.

It's got to be the offices I've worked in.

In most places it was a serious offence to leave phones ringing - even other people's. Most of my bosses would pick them up if they were passing out of ingrained habit.

Plus it was a very competitive environment. If you answered someone's phone then the work would go to you. Most of us regarded that as a good thing. I realise that lots of people think the opposite.

I did draw the line at stealing contacts - or doing it blatantly. I've seen fights break out over that.