Annoying People Tricks

[countrigal]

What is the one trick that you use the most in dealing with those annoying, pesky, irritating, bothersome folks?  Could be the one person who thinks that your desk is their gossip station or it could be that person who thinks that you're their personal coffee-fetcher, errand-runner, jam-remover, etc.  Pass out the hints on handling these folks with all the aplomb of a superb admin.

Me, my pesky person was someone who was my peer but thought I was his personal assistant (never mind that I was the assistant to our manager, not him!).  If I wasn't working on something he wanted, or if I took a break and was talking (quietly) with another co-worker in her cubicle, he would come by and give me "busy work" to do, like faxing something which he could just as easily fax since he walked by the fax machine to get me.  I handled him by smiling my most professional smile (with teeth gritted often, behind the smile) either did the task or told him I would prioritize it with my other priorities of the day and get to it when I could (which often had him putting it in my inbox only to find it there an hour later when he would then do it himself).    When it got completely out of hand I talked to our manager and had him intervene, but that was only after 2+ years of it and him never catching on to the fact that I was not his personal slave.

So what other methods are there out there?  Share, admins, share!

CountriGal
Deskdemon Editorial Board Member

[twhfan]

I dealt with my annyoing person recently.  She is a manager but rather disorganized.  Her boss is my boss, too.  She constantly tried to blame me when she forgot a meeting, didn't get a message, etc.  I was beginning to fear that my boss would believe her and question my competence.

I fixed her by putting "read receipts" on all the e-mails I sent to her, so that I'd have proof that she got her messages.  Recently when our boss called her on the carpet for failing to meet a deadline, she did her old "I never got that message" routine.  

When my boss questioned me, I sweetly replied, "Oh, I have the message receipt right here.  It says "deleted without being read"."  The culprit was absolutely flabbergasted!  She stammered and stuttered and said that it's not her usual practice to delete messages without reading them, etc., etc.

She hasn't blamed me for anything since!  Yes, I felt a little bit evil for hanging her out to dry, but I was sick of taking the blame for something that wasn't my fault.

My other annoying people trick is to keep the chair in my office covered to keep anyone from coming in and getting comfortable and thereby wasting my time.  For the people I want to talk with, I simply ask them to hand me the pile and tell them to have a seat....

[winkiebear]

When I have to deal with someone I find particularly irksome, there are times when I *know* my attitude towards this person will show.  I take a deep breath, try to stop the goosebumps on my back, and smile, all the time thinking "I can do this.  Once I'm done with this conversation I can go back to what I was doing."

If I don't take the deep breath and smile, then my frustration is completely transparent to the person.  And then I feel badly, because how would I like it if someone felt that way about me?

So, I just do my thing and make sure my feelings don't show.


winkiebear
Deskdemon Editorial Board Member

[bethalize]

Go Twhfan! That is a stunning example using your knowledge to not only do your job but protect it too. Way to go!
Evil bosses: you had better watch out. The admins know more than you do!

Bethalize
Deskdemon Forum Board Staff

[mathwhizchick]

Wow, that was an inspired use of cya.  Ya gotta love all those neat little worksavers on the email programs.  I work with Lotus notes and have used them quite a bit.  However, NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, NEVER feel evil or guilty about hanging someone out to dry.  It's a waste of emotional energy.

[goldenearring]

CG - My best trick is no trick at all, and probably comes as no surprise:  direct confrontation with the offender!  It doesn't matter if you're an admin or not, the annoying ones are out there in full force.  They're often simply not aware of anything else in the universe but their own needs and expectations.  If the initial gentle confrontation does not work, then the broken record technique generally does the trick.