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"Rules" like this are silly to write down. By telling people that wearing headphones is a signal that someone wants to be left alone, you're asking people to m
by cbs 14y ago
"Rules" like this are silly to write down.
By telling people that wearing headphones is a signal that someone wants to be left alone, you're asking people to make assumptions about those of us wearing headphones with no intention to make a statement about our availability.
I wear headphones constantly, as do two of the guys I work with directly. We simply want to drown out office white noise, and wearing just one ear doesn't work for that. If Ryan is wearing headphones, that means he is secretly watching The Daily Show on the clock and there is no better time to interrupt him today. Sometimes my department will focus on changes to system audio, then everyone has headphones on.
Try learning how to ask someone to leave you alone. Or, put a sign up on your desk that says "I'm "not here' today, email me instead", one of our guys does that, its pretty unambiguous.
- carlisle_ 14y agoI am pretty sure whoever put that site up is being highly facetious.
- jaredmcateer 14y agoI wouldn't be so sure. I know a handful of passive aggressive people out there that would think this is a great thing to print off and post above their desk so they can point at it when someone breaks the 2 headphone rule.
- Dystopian 14y agoI've worked with someone before who had this rule. It was great for company culture. /s
- bmj 14y agoWhy is this passive-aggressive? Many of us do work that often requires some period of concentration, yet most office cultures are built around constant interruption. And, many of us don't have office doors we can close that indicate to others that we are busy and would prefer not be interrupted. Is it unreasonable to make yourself unavailable to your co-workers all day, every day? Yeah, probably. Is it reasonable to have some period of uninterrupted work time? Most definitely.
- jaredmcateer 14y agoIt's passive aggressive if you can't just talk to your coworkers and explain when you need to concentrate and expect them to respect your space when you need it.
- bmj 14y agoPerhaps, but if you have to tell them you are currently concentrating and don't want to be disturbed, you've already been disturbed and had your concentration broken. Again, I'm not suggesting that every workplace must be monastery-quiet, but somehow being able to signal to your co-workers that you don't want to be disturbed doesn't seem unreasonable to me.
- jaredmcateer 14y agoYou only have to tell them once. I've asked my coworkers if they see me with my headphones on and I'm not obviously dicking around to send me an instant message or email when I'm free I'll hit them back. All other times I'm fair game.
- calinet6 14y agos/facetious/arrogant/