I was reading an article about annoying sounds we find in the office and I can very much relate. I have two woman colleagues sitting behind me that are constantly clearing their throats. Not spitting but just clearing their throats and it is very irritating. Sometimes when I am deep in thought working on something, I am jolted out of my mood with their loud throatal exercises!

I was wondering what office sounds do you find annoying? I use my headphones to try to drown them out but obviously I can’t do this all the time because my boss may not like it.

Is it just me or are there other people who find sounds in the office that really grinds your gears? What do you do to tackle the situation?

Pen-clickers.

Co-workers breathing. Used to drive me nuts.

I had a co-worker who produced every sound a human body is able to make during his workday (except for farts, thank heavens!) - slurping, breathing, rambling, burping, tapping on the desk, you name it. He even moaned while eating which led me to believe that his sex life was extremely limited. He tought me wrong by fathering three children...

All the people with their endless moaning,
"its not appropriate bla bla bla"
"People will hear about this yada yada"
"That isnt the correct dress code"
"why wont you wear clothes"
etc etc.

I guess its the same in every office

Fred

flipdewaf wrote:

All the people with their endless moaning,
"its not appropriate bla bla bla"
"People will hear about this yada yada"
"That isnt the correct dress code"
"why wont you wear clothes"
etc etc.

I guess its the same in every office

Fred

Exactly! What's the point of casual Friday if you can't turn up naked? SMH.

scbriml wrote:

flipdewaf wrote:

All the people with their endless moaning,
"its not appropriate bla bla bla"
"People will hear about this yada yada"
"That isnt the correct dress code"
"why wont you wear clothes"
etc etc.

I guess its the same in every office

Fred

Exactly! What's the point of casual Friday if you can't turn up naked? SMH.

At least you don't get asked to do the drinks round!

scbriml wrote:

Co-workers breathing. Used to drive me nuts.

You should really see somebody about that.....

Being sat near the person who answers the phone, especially if they're required to follow a set script. Example- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4s5yHUpumkY

I was in an office with a woman who found a way to visit us all. And, usually, she interrupted conversations or tasks.

One time, she way overstepped the boundaries: I was in middle of recording a macro in Excel. About 55 steps. After several tries I was having success and at the 52nd step, a stream of soap bubbles goes past my face. Bubbles in my nose. Bubbles landed in my quite large beard. Think “Viking who owns a hair brush”. Yes. She had a bottle of bubble fluid and one of those things you dip, then blow gently.

Let us just say that my normally calm and placid mood disappeared. I partook in a display of temper.

WesternDC6B wrote:

I was in an office with a woman who found a way to visit us all. And, usually, she interrupted conversations or tasks.

One time, she way overstepped the boundaries: I was in middle of recording a macro in Excel. About 55 steps. After several tries I was having success and at the 52nd step, a stream of soap bubbles goes past my face. Bubbles in my nose. Bubbles landed in my quite large beard. Think “Viking who owns a hair brush”. Yes. She had a bottle of bubble fluid and one of those things you dip, then blow gently.

Let us just say that my normally calm and placid mood disappeared. I partook in a display of temper.

Lol I would love to have seen the woman's face when the temper storm struck her.

Whistling, singing or humming badly. That can drive office drones nuts.

ltbewr wrote:

Whistling, singing or humming badly. That can drive office drones nuts.

Being considered a drone by the executives is another annoyance.

toby25 wrote:

WesternDC6B wrote:

I was in an office with a woman who found a way to visit us all. And, usually, she interrupted conversations or tasks.

One time, she way overstepped the boundaries: I was in middle of recording a macro in Excel. About 55 steps. After several tries I was having success and at the 52nd step, a stream of soap bubbles goes past my face. Bubbles in my nose. Bubbles landed in my quite large beard. Think “Viking who owns a hair brush”. Yes. She had a bottle of bubble fluid and one of those things you dip, then blow gently.

Let us just say that my normally calm and placid mood disappeared. I partook in a display of temper.

Lol I would love to have seen the woman's face when the temper storm struck her.

I’m a big fellow. 275/125, 6-1/185, shoulders in separate postal codes, big reddish beard. I’m intimidating to some just sitting there. As for the woman in question: I think I may have startled her a bit.

scbriml wrote:

Co-workers breathing. Used to drive me nuts.

My first internship, I worked alongside somebody who complained my breathing; apparently, he thought I breathed too heavily. But he also complained about the clicking sound my keyboard and mouse made. And anytime I ate or drank (if I ate chips, you'd think I was the most inconsiderate person in the world).

Meanwhile, instead of wearing headphones, he'd listen to financial news all day long with the volume turned up. He wore heavy cologne (mainly to hide his smoking habit), had multiple air fresher "plug-ins," would clean his keyboard regularly with the high pressured canisters, would eat his food at his desk -- and he ate nothing but stinky ethic cuisine -- and have loud, personal phone calls at his desk.

toby25 wrote:

I was reading an article about annoying sounds we find in the office and I can very much relate. I have two woman colleagues sitting behind me that are constantly clearing their throats. Not spitting but just clearing their throats and it is very irritating. Sometimes when I am deep in thought working on something, I am jolted out of my mood with their loud throatal exercises!

I was wondering what office sounds do you find annoying? I use my headphones to try to drown them out but obviously I can’t do this all the time because my boss may not like it.

Is it just me or are there other people who find sounds in the office that really grinds your gears? What do you do to tackle the situation?

The person who walks around clicking their fingers all the time, the person who whistles all day long, or the other person who must walk around the office singing(!) - yes really.

The old Samsung phones with that annoying whistling notification sound seems to have ended, same with people having the twitter notification sound at high volume on their phones, that has also gone. My office is pretty quiet mainly because we are all so damned busy.

We don't have the noise from photocopiers/printers anymore, they are all further away. That also has another benefit, the smell of the printer running flat out (and all the dust from it) isn't near our desks anymore. In our old office we had a big printer nearby our desks. The desk nearest the printer would actually get dirty from all the dust of that printer, my desk was further away as was the desk of my colleague and the both of us would get affected by the smell of that damn printer when someone was doing a very large print job.

When we moved to a newly built office, we argued strongly to keep printers far away from desks and for much better meeting room facilities (and quiet spaces).

Tapping, drumming, foot-tapping, whistling, humming...

Unfortunately, I'm usually the culprit. One of the curses of having music going through my head almost constantly.

To be honest, not too much bothers me at work.

(I should note that our desks are next to the shop floor. While it doesn't drown out our noises, it does provide background noise)

If only someone would invent headphones for you poor souls that can't stand office sounds........ Oh wait.

WesternDC6B wrote:

I was in an office with a woman who found a way to visit us all. And, usually, she interrupted conversations or tasks.

This times a million! Why is there always someone who never does any work and thinks its everyone else's responsibility to keep them entertained?

I moved to a cube farm that sits close to a cargo elevator which is loud AF. Biggest gripe is when people hold it and it starts beeping because it's being called from the bottom floor.

Either that or disregard for work areas. Being close to the galley, people find a way to talk so loud that the entire floor can hear them but if you politely ask them to tone it down, you get looks.

WesternDC6B wrote:

Pen-clickers.

One time, I was at my desk (with low cube walls), looking at a report on the computer, and absentmindedly clicking a pen. I looked up, and the woman at the next desk was sitting there staring at me. I smiled and said "Wow, that must be really annoying!" and put the pen down. She was a PITA, so I didn't feel too bad about it, though.

einsteinboricua wrote:

disregard for work areas. Being close to the galley, people find a way to talk so loud that the entire floor can hear them but if you politely ask them to tone it down, you get looks.

The trick with that is to go passive-aggressive: Join in their conversation, and if they say anything or give you a dirty look, just say "Oh, I thought you were speaking up like that so as to include me".

TSS wrote:

einsteinboricua wrote:

disregard for work areas. Being close to the galley, people find a way to talk so loud that the entire floor can hear them but if you politely ask them to tone it down, you get looks.

The trick with that is to go passive-aggressive: Join in their conversation, and if they say anything or give you a dirty look, just say "Oh, I thought you were speaking up like that so as to include me".

That works for the self-important who talk loudly on mobiles at restaurants and other public venues. At least the curse of the Nextel “bleepety-bleep!” walkie-talkie conversations are a distant memory.

I hate the sound of people using paper clips to hold sheets of paper together.

ltbewr wrote:

Whistling, singing or humming badly. That can drive office drones nuts.

Yeah, whistling is annoying for sure.
And while it wasn't exactly signing, we had a woman who would talk in a sing-songy voice all the time and it was beyond annoying. I actually moved about 200 feet down the hall the when the opportunity presented itself because I couldn't stand it - it went on All. Day. Long.

People who chew gum and make cracking/popping noises with it.

Basics prattling on about gossip/dating/daily minutiae with kids etc - if I wanted to hear that shit, I’d spend all day at Starbucks. Slow-mo office phone ring tones - it’s not 1992 anymore.

But sounds aren’t nearly as annoying as people who leave their crumbs/dead skin/dry boogers on conference room tables for the next users to find.

Colleagues who insist on leaving the mic on when chewing or slurping, or ones who breath down the mic too really annoy me.

People who insist on crunching loudly on crisps or the animals who frantically munch a whole packet then tip the scraps onto their tongue.

Repulsive.

Oh and for the Airbus guys - colleagues who insist on flipping the tray over full force then full on slamming it into the holder as hard as they can making an almighty crash and bang. They're usually the loudest complainer when tray tables are inopped too.

Going back to chewing though there's something gone wrong between my generation and the next. I'd say as a whole a loud muncher is quite unusual. Yet I have a teenage niece in the Highlands and a teenage nephew from the London area and a 9 year old who all loudly and proudly munch with their mouths wide open - and the parents say NOTHING as if it's totally normal.

WidebodyPTV wrote:

scbriml wrote:

Co-workers breathing. Used to drive me nuts.

My first internship, I worked alongside somebody who complained my breathing; apparently, he thought I breathed too heavily. But he also complained about the clicking sound my keyboard and mouse made. And anytime I ate or drank (if I ate chips, you'd think I was the most inconsiderate person in the world).

Meanwhile, instead of wearing headphones, he'd listen to financial news all day long with the volume turned up. He wore heavy cologne (mainly to hide his smoking habit), had multiple air fresher "plug-ins," would clean his keyboard regularly with the high pressured canisters, would eat his food at his desk -- and he ate nothing but stinky ethnic cuisine -- and have loud, personal phone calls at his desk.

LOL - it was a good read here though.

Eating, in particular, munching and crunching can be annoying. Apples and rice crackers are the worst IMHO.

'Fog horn' voices that can be heard from far away - the other end of the room, or through headphones. Cursing - same.

People who don't use headphones.

Private phone calls that should be - private. Easier to solve nowadays with mobile phones. Phones on speaker - does the other person know..

Not saying I am witness to all, but I know others that have these experiences.

TSS wrote:

Being sat near the person who answers the phone, especially if they're required to follow a set script. Example- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4s5yHUpumkY

- thanks for sharing.

ATC asking you to change frequency in the middle of lunch
ATC asking you to change frequency in the middle of telling a joke
ATC asking you to change frequency in the middle of chatting up the hostess
ATC asking you to change frequency as you're having a quiet nap

Basically, ATC.

Clipping nails.

My one coworker is an extremely aggressive typer. And her and a couple other girls gossip like it's going out of style.

Am I the only one who finds it hard to be annoyed of sounds in the office? I've people talking out loud, ringtones going off in all different directions, the dot matrix printer chugging away printing whatever shit they're printing.

In fact I find it annoying when the office is too quiet!

TheFlyingDisk wrote:

In fact I find it annoying when the office is too quiet!

Yes, I too don’t like it really quiet for like long periods of time. Especially when it’s near lunch time and tummies start rumbling LOL. At least if your office is a flight deck, there is always some sound to muffle other sound, or complete silence.

klm672 wrote:

Clipping nails.

What for a hell of office do you work in? Clipping nails with other people around, in the name of the LORD!

Most hated sounds: colleagues chatting. The xerox "beep" every time it completes a task. the stapler's continous "beep" down in the warehouse.
Most liked sounds: the FAX machine. Although being discontinued, I feel sincerely aroused every time I hear the FAX modem connecting. also: the coffee grinder at 10 am and the shift siren at 5 pm.

Some, not all, ring tones. I’m talking about the ones on desks, not mobiles.

Since the advent of the electronic ringer, firmware writers seemingly went out of their way to devise warbles, zingy-zings, bloobidy-bloop, or other 1955-science fiction sounds they can make. FEH!

FatCat wrote:

klm672 wrote:

Clipping nails.

What for a hell of office do you work in? Clipping nails with other people around, in the name of the LORD!

My previous colleague sitting with me in an office did this as well, using the office scissors. :-/

In Vietnam or China I sometimes hear this sound at the gate or sometimes even in the plane. Not sure if they use it for their hands or even for their feet

N14AZ wrote:

even for their feet

what the actual heck

Leaky headphones or ear buds that allow music to escape.

N14AZ wrote:

FatCat wrote:

klm672 wrote:

Clipping nails.

What for a hell of office do you work in? Clipping nails with other people around, in the name of the LORD!

My previous colleague sitting with me in an office did this as well, using the office scissors. :-/

In Vietnam or China I sometimes hear this sound at the gate or sometimes even in the plane. Not sure if they use it for their hands or even for their feet

Its been in two offices so far..

klm672 wrote:

N14AZ wrote:

FatCat wrote:

What for a hell of office do you work in? Clipping nails with other people around, in the name of the LORD!

My previous colleague sitting with me in an office did this as well, using the office scissors. :-/

In Vietnam or China I sometimes hear this sound at the gate or sometimes even in the plane. Not sure if they use it for their hands or even for their feet

Its been in two offices so far..

+1

You can add me to the list of people who don't mind office sounds. I need the distraction to keep the temptation to procrastinate at bay, as it keeps the other half of my brain engaged.

Clipping your nails though.... no, just no. I had the misfortune of previously sitting next to someone who did this.

Clipping fingernails - yes. Not with the office scissors though. While I’ve not and hopefully will never witness teeth flossing or mouth gargling, I can’t say the same for mouth rinsing, and not for the few seconds either. I thought tea or coffee mugs were for drinking beverages out of.

The only direct cubicle neighbor I have in a given week chews ice cubes constantly. The only saving grace is that they're a pleasant individual otherwise. Aside from that, that, not being able to change my ringtone.