Apparently I type too loudly

[Tabsicle]

So, I work in an office. Normal open plan.

Apparently one of my colleagues has put in a complaint about me. She says I type too loudly. I do, to be fair, type quickly (90 wpm) and that means I tend to bounce around the keyboard rapidly, and other people have said I type as if I'm in a bad mood (I'm not. I just type at thinking speed).

Nothing else - I don't eat at my desk, I don't really talk much, I don't wear heavy perfume. My boss has been very nice about it and said I'm doing nothing wrong but would it be OK to get me a quieter keyboard, and if that doesn't work, colleague will have to live with it.

AIBU in how I type? Is she? This feels really petty and while I know we don't get on (she's been really ratty and competitive with me recently, which I think it because we work in a target based environment and I've had some very good results lately) I'm a bit thrown that she has actually put in a formal complaint. It seems rather weird too. MN jury?

Formal complaint is OTT but loud typing is annoying unfortunately! And it's unnecessary. I type extremely fast and am not loud. If you've been able to learn to type fast, which is a skill, you should easily be able to learn to just press the keys with less force with a bit of practice.

OP get yourself a quieter keyboard then play this song whenever she annoys you with her apples and crisps.

If you get a mechanical keyboard the keys are very sensitive so you don't have to 'bounce' to register a press.

Your colleague is a twat regardless.

It would drive me insane. It is not just one person saying it. If others are saying you type like you are angry they have been telling you in a nice way. Do something about it.
Get them to buy you a quieter keyboard and just work on stop banging the keys so hard, even if it does slow you down.

AM TYPING THIS NOISILY TOO. DAMN THOSE MANUAL TYPEWRITERS. SECRETARIAL COURSE? BET YOU CAN SET OUT DOCUMENTS MUCH BETTER THAN YOUR COLLEAGUE!

As someone else said, it's your colleague's way of trying to validate that she doesn't like you

Maybe the colleague doesn't like her because she's so annoying with her typing?

Forget typing. Get voice recognition software and you'll never look back. This is brilliant

www.nuance.co.uk/for-individuals/by-product/dragon-for-pc/home-version/index.htm

Maybe your colleague has misophonia.

My husband's typing drives me crazy. I have to put in earplugs (or put a pillow over my head) when he types in bed, and I am trying to read. I feel like he is typing inside my skull.

Quite. Perfectly possible to like someone and at same time be driven crazy by their rat-a-tat take a letter miss jones typing style.

Maybe she felt too intimidated, who knows? Some of the people responding here are certainly people you wouldn't feel comfortable talking to informally, as nasty and insensitive as they are.

Tabsicle I was also made to do typing and shorthand as a teenager so that I 'would have something to fall back on'. Presumably their Plan A was to marry a man with money

The colleague is BU to raise a formal complaint. You aren't doing anything wrong. It's the nature of open plan offices, people are bound to do things that annoy each other. IIWY I would avoid the colleague as much as possible from now on. She has made her feelings about you very clear.

Just take up the offer of the company buying you a quieter keyboard and continue to type fast.

I work from home, writing software; DH shares the office. He found my typing noisy so he simply went out and got me a quieter keyboard. He still beats the hell out of his on occasion but I can usually tune it out.

just one thing - some keyboard clicks are software rather than being just the mechanical noise, check you don't have keyclicks turned on.

Forget typing. Get voice recognition software and you'll never look back. This is brilliant

not a good idea in an office. And hopeless for some work - I couldn't articulate code, it'd be incredibly slow and awkward. The thought usually goes into code via my fingers without translation into English.

I'll bet it has already been raised by others, maybe in a 'jokey' way but comment will have been made, and nothing changed hence escalation. Of course it may be a personal vendetta but I doubt it based on the op

Sadly I have worked with people who have the attitude that they know they are annoying someone so they do it even more. It doesn't make for a pleasant working environment.

IIWY I would avoid the colleague as much as possible from now on

See, how would you have a quiet word with someone like this? They are bullies, you have raise a formal complaint with people like this, so that when they escalate as they are proud to say they will, you can do something about it.

It seems way OTT for her to make a formal complaint. Did she have any suggestions on how to type quietly and still maintain productivity, if the new keyboard doesn't help? I am of a similar typing style to you and have had people make comments about the volume but having tried, as you have, to type quieter it slows me right down. It is normal office noise and provided the work is getting done it's not really a priority for the boss although it may be an annoyance to a colleague.

We had two noisy typers in the office, one used to actually have to get his keyboard replaced every few years because he broke them.
One has learned to tone it right down, the other still thumps away and can be heard on the other side of the office when hes in full force...

This would drive me nuts, I hate unneeded noise and my work performance would suffer because of it, however I'd raise it with you, not your employer.

Chuckling at all the people who say they are loud typists and can't see the problem....

If other people mentioned you sound like you are an angry when you type then, yes, you are that irritating person in the office.

ImFuckingSpartacus I'm a bully because I wouldn't want to chat with someone at work who seems to dislike me? Really?

My colleague does this and it is really fucking annoying. I complain loudly too - we all do.

Sometimes it is hard to have phone conversations as he bashes his keyboard to bits - he claims he has no idea about it. He's not particularly skilled typist - its a rapid 2 finger bashing.

Get a quieter/soft touch keyboard.

My husband does quite a bit of typing at night writing stuff up, and he is really noisy. I'm studying, and have to go to another room. But I see it more as a keyboard issue than a problem with him.

What really used to get me was sitting next to someone who wore massively long false nails and made a weird noise that was kind of between hammering and scratching the keyboard.

Your colleague is BU to go straight to formal complaint.

However, I used to work with someone who hit the space bar like a tonne of bricks for some reason. Only the space bar. So click-click-click-click-BANG-click-click-click-click-click-click-BANG-click-click-BANG.

If you were trying to work on something complicated, it was really distracting