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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To think that I should be allowed to work where I want to?

76 replies

HootyMc0wlFace · 27/05/2016 11:13

I have just come out of a meeting with my line manager and told that I am no longer allowed to work in the library every morning. The "library" is actually a small meeting room with desks and a few books where we are allowed to work quietly and talking is banned. I work in an open plan office so this room is like heaven. I spend the morning there powering through the important work that I need to focus on, go to lunch then spend the afternoon at my desk.

So apparently my routine is sending the wrong message, somehow. I don't look like a team player, I look like I "hide" in there too apply for jobs, and other ridiculous allegations. Someone has been using that room to do some online shopping and I suspect they think that I also piss about in there not doing work.

But the thing is, this is the only time I get any meaningful work done. I resent each afternoon spent at my desk because I can hear every conversation and it is distracting. 100 people taking calls, talking to each other about clients or their weekend plans - the chatter is overwhelming. A task that should take me 10 minutes can drag out for an hour. I know some people listen to music but I find that too distracting.

I just need peace and quiet. Why is this too much to ask for? Why am I being punished? I know from prior experience that I'll get very little done if I am forced to sit at my desk all day every day.

Has anyone else been in this situation? How do I deal with this?

OP posts:

simonettavespucci · 27/05/2016 13:15

there are people who work from home

Could you negotiate to do this too? Maybe just for the mornings if that's your prime silent working time.

rookiemere · 27/05/2016 13:17

I really don't think arguing with the line managers decision is the right way to go here at the minute.

Asking to work from home 1-2 days a week is a much better solution if that would be agreed and noise cancellation headphones for the other times. If this is granted then OP can demonstrate how much more work she can do in a quiet location, then perhaps is a good time to bring it up again. But for now Line Manager has specifically asked OP not to work in the library, therefore raising it again would not send the right message.

Angeladelight · 27/05/2016 13:23

I understand that it is difficult and a large office is full of distractions. However, unless you are senior it looks really bad to the rest of your team that you excuse yourself to a different room every day - to them it absolutely does look like special treatment. Your reasons for doing so are valid but your manager is equally valid in their reasoning too. I'm not sure there's a compromise here, your manager has raised an issue and it's unlikely they will reconsider their position. I would make your case to management and try to negotiate a compromise.

MamehaSan · 27/05/2016 13:34

If you find music too distracting, you could try just putting in-ear earphones in without anything playing. They don't block all noise but it takes the edge off the sounds and makes everything more muffled, so it's easier to ignore. You can still hear a bit of background hub-bub, but you don't get tuned into other people's voices quite so much. It looks a bit less anti-social than wearing ear plugs but you get a similar effect (and people will be less likely to pick up on it than if you are sitting with ear plugs in!)

We had an office move recently and the new place is horrendously noisy. So many people working on top of eachother, it can be deafening at times. And even when it's not loud, it's difficult not to get drawn into listening to what people are saying. When I'm trying to concentrate I listen to music, but I often realise that the album had finished a while ago and I've been happily working with my ear phones in (but no music) for quite a while. It's surprisingly effective...

idontlikealdi · 27/05/2016 14:12

We have open plan agile fucking working. Which results in half the office with earphones in. I don't always have music o just leave them in as a sign of 'please leave me alone I'm busy'. We have quiet rooms but I don't think anyone would get away with half a day every day in them.

BackforGood · 27/05/2016 14:20

YANBU AT ALL, and have my utmost sympathy.
I am fortunate enough to be allowed to work from home, and it is heavenly - the background noise and chatter is SO distracting when you are trying to concentrate in an open plan office.
I think you need to just calmly reiterate that for you personally - and I'm sure there are others in your office who feel the same? Might it be worth finding some other colleagues to speak up too?? - find the noise and chatter in the open plan office, extremely distracting, and you have chosen to spend half your time in there, because you know you are much more productive when working in a quiet environment. Say you realise it is not the same for everyone, but, as the room is there and available, and you using it doesn't stop anyone else from using it, then ask them why on earth it is a problem to anyone that you want to produce high quality work in a reasonable time frame.

GarlicShake · 27/05/2016 16:38

We have open plan agile fucking working.

Oh, god! I'm extremely people-tolerant but that is my nightmare! Poor you.

vikingorigins · 27/05/2016 17:34

I am having exactly the same issues with noise ATM, tho in my case I do have a dx so I'm waiting for the Reasonable Adjustments team to sort something out.

Open plan offices are a nightmare for people like us. Where I've worked before hasn't been so bad, as it's always been a room of people doing the same thing and after a bit of banter everyone settles down. Now I'm on a team with loads of people doing different jobs, and the layout of the offices doesn't help either. Sometimes I just feel like standing up and screaming "will you all just shut the fuck up". And we don't get many phone calls.

icy121 · 27/05/2016 17:45

Foam earplugs & noise cancelling headphone double whammy. That'll do the job.

My boss sits next to me and shouts down the phone. Eye roll.

messystressy · 27/05/2016 17:47

I do feel your pain. We have moved to permanent hot desking and I find it extremely distracting - and there feels there is more 'down time' (endless, non-work related chatter) than when we had fixed desks. I am in the office part time so really want to make the most of my time there, but I get much less work done after hot desking came in. However, I do not take myself away to the library as I know how it looks and comes across - for fear of exactly what you are going through. Could you compromise and ask if you can use the library for one afternoon a week, for example, and cite a particular task which you can more swiftly get through if you are in the library?

Believeitornot · 27/05/2016 17:52

I can see why someone might not think you're a team player if you're hiding every morning. So you need to address that issue.

Other issue to address is the inability to work in open place. I can't either - but that's because I'm easily distracted so I usually disappear off to another part of the office to do intense work. However that is not every day and I don't have a routine.

SwedishEdith · 27/05/2016 18:10

"Honestly offices have open plan set-ups because they want people to be next to each other so they can interact easily."

No, they do it to reduce costs. I feel for you OP, open-plan doesn't really benefit anyone in terms of productivity - even the noisy people get more done if they're on their own for a while. But some people can't get their had around this - see the aggressive answers you've had. Go for the headphones.

Atenco · 27/05/2016 19:36

I find it odd that someone who cannot work with the noise of a 100 people chattering around them must have some diagnosable sensory disorder?

topcat2014 · 27/05/2016 19:46

The thing is, in most offices everyone needs to take turns to do the random shite that happens - filling the copier, answering the door, etc

(I'm a finance director, but still expect to have to do this stuff).

Refusing to take part in all that, whilst probably worthy from some kind of 'standpoint' will mark you out as different / difficult, I'm afraid.

Original poster

HootyMc0wlFace · 27/05/2016 20:03

The thing is, in most offices everyone needs to take turns to do the random shite that happens - filling the copier, answering the door, etc

(I'm a finance director, but still expect to have to do this stuff).

Refusing to take part in all that, whilst probably worthy from some kind of 'standpoint' will mark you out as different / difficult, I'm afraid.

As I said, I do the admin in the afternoon. We are a paperless office so not much of that around. We don't get inbound calls aimed at teams - generally if your phone rings it is because a call was scheduled. There is a receptionist who answers the door. As I said, there are around 100 people, it would be chaos without her.

I personally see being a team player as helping colleagues achieve deadlines when the going gets tough, giving advice when needed, covering work if they need an emergency day off, etc.

Why is being seen as a team player centred around being physically next to them?

I will stop spending mornings there but that doesn't change the fact that I don't like being treated with so little trust. Fair enough if I was an intern or something, but I am a professional capable of managing my own work load and motivation.

OP posts:

amicissimma · 27/05/2016 20:13

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Atenco · 27/05/2016 20:22

I also think that a good manager would be aware of whether you are getting your work done or not, though good managers are few and far between.

topcat2014 · 27/05/2016 20:29

Perception is nine tenths of reality though. If I was one of your fellow team members, I would be annoyed that you somehow get this 'special' priviledge - even though I probably wouldn't say anything.

In a large company, we are all just generic 'cogs', with all individuality frowned on.

Or else - why did HR get invented.. tongue in cheek

Original poster

HootyMc0wlFace · 27/05/2016 20:49

TopCat HR is not involved, this was my line manager.

OP posts:

Original poster

HootyMc0wlFace · 27/05/2016 20:49

Oh my God, I need to learn to read...

OP posts:

topcat2014 · 27/05/2016 20:57

It is worth comparing what companies say with what they mean:

"We just want people to get the work done" actually tends to mean
"We value presenteeism above everything else"

Apologies - haven't read the full thread.

Is there scope for maybe a rota for 'library time' - that way everyone benefits, and you get to be seen as a team player by actually developing team morale?

MilesHuntsWig · 27/05/2016 21:08

Noise cancelling headphones wo music, ear plugs and ask about wfh. When the worry has died down a bit broach the subject again.

Everyone's guessing why it was raised, could be a number of things. I'd find a way around the problem until you could get your boss to consider it more dispassionately.

CharlieSierra · 27/05/2016 21:17

Some responses are unnecessarily harsh. Noise in offices can be a serious problem, it is for me. We moved buildings recently, and I've gone from a private office to sharing with 14 others. I do complex calculations and analysis, but others in the room do completely different work. 2 of them are constantly on the phone, others have people coming in to see them all the time and the hold impromptu meetings in the middle of the office, people go on conference calls in there instead of going into a meeting room, they shout across the office to each other; it's a complete nightmare and I am suffering major stress because of it.

OP I use noise cancelling headphones, white noise, classical music etc. which helps a bit if I have to be in there; I also use quiet rooms and work from home as often as I can. It's still crap though.

MilkRunningOutAgain · 28/05/2016 13:41

This is interesting. Our open plan office is noisy and we all hot desk which is a pain. If you are late the only desks are in the hot windowless basement. So many people use ear and head phones I find it really annoying , it's hard to get their attention and some of them mumble tunes to themselves all day, hugely irritating. You have to make even more noise to get their attention. I hate people wearing ear plugs and head phones, but perhaps this is generational, I'm old and it's only recently listening to music has become acceptable, to me it just isn't acceptable in work time. I'm considering moving teams to a smaller floor which has quiet corners, even though I prefer the actual work I do at the moment, the environment is just getting too much for me. Good luck OP, you have my sympathy, open plan offices are a pain.

Original poster

HootyMc0wlFace · 31/05/2016 12:03

So I bought a pair of noise cancelling headphones over the weekend.

How long before I can safely slip them on?

I've spent the morning at my desk, answering emails. I keep losing my train of thought, but this might be partially because of a bad night's sleep. Making lots of notes to compensate

OP posts:

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