quiet work environment
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17 Posts
Any suggestion how to quiet down the work environment? It is great our employees get along but the noise level and friendly chit chat is getting in the way of productivity. What's an effective way to send out the message to stop idle talk and personal issues?
Comments
I know for a fact that when Gar has had it with the commotion, he stands in the middle of the office and fires his gun at the ceiling. It's quiet for the rest of the day because they are all under their desks.
don't think a gun or duct tape is my answer
What you need are rabid pitbulls and tazers. You talk, you get one, your choice. Seriously, though, yours is a very good question. What type of environment are you in? What sort of skill sets are we dealing with? I ask because it has been my experience that you should tailor your approach based on the target audience.
Once we had to do something similar with a design group of CAD operators in a fish-bowl type of office (enclosed glass within a large office area). They felt that they were "on-display" so they acted like monkeys (literally). We got the glass frosted, problem solved.
Another time we had an issue with a part-time evening group of tech support guys and gals, mostly college age. The fix to that was tweaking the dress code back to what everyone else wore (the dress the part you'll act the part concept).
The scenarios above dealt with more than just idle chit-chat. They also dealt with juvenile type of behavior and antics. Another option is to simply attack it with a direct approach. Set the expected standard, manage performance to it and use progressive discipline on those who choose not to follow it.
Good luck.
Gene
Todays version would be to pick out a couple of the ringleaders and fire them!
Just kidding, the progressive discipline policy outline by Gene is a good way to go.
First, let them know it has gone a bit too far, please limit the idle chit chat and personal conversation. Save all that for breaks and lunch.
Be honest. Have a meeting, discuss the issue, discuss expected resolution and discuss consequences.
Keep it light and to the point. "Hey I think it's great that we have such a great work environment and that you all get along so well. It's hard to find such tight knit co-workers. However, I've noticed lately that there has been a lot of excess chit chat and we believe that it is slowing down production. So we need to all be aware that we need to turn our attention back to work and try to save the chit chat for breaks and lunches.... blah blah blah.
Use the oreo cookie effect: Good Job! Bad Job! Good Job!
Pump them up, correct the behavior, leave them with encouragement and self esteem. You will have happy workers who will respect you.