Chen Hui: Good morning, Mary. Do you have a minute to talk?
Mary: Yes, what is it?
Chen Hui: We all work in our cubicles. There are three short walls separating us from others. Working in cubicles usually has no problems, but sometimes it’s very distressing.
Mary: What happened?
Chen Hui: The colleague who just moved to sit next to me made personal phone calls early this morning and spoke very loudly. I couldn’t work anymore!
Mary: I know we should keep our voice down in the cubicle. The most frequent complaint made in office is about noise from other people in the work environment.
Chen Hui: If someone interrupts my work, I should tell him that my work has been affected, but I don’t want people to think I’m unfriendly.
Mary: You can talk to the person next to you in private and ask him to keep his voice down next time he calls.
And according to the company rules, we should avoid making personal calls at the workplace.
Chen Hui: That’s a good idea. Another thing is that sometimes when I’m on the phone, someone comes to me, and instead of walking away, he just stays there. That’s annoying to me.
Mary: For such a person, you just turn your back on him. That usually does the trick and they will leave.
Chen Hui: OK, I will try it next time. Thank you.