On this blog, we’ve written a lot about how to deal with noisy coworkers. But dealing with nosy coworkers can be even more challenging. We found one tale of nosiness posted on Yahoo Answers that made us shake our heads. The questioner asked what to do about her mom’s coworker who is always in her business. This coworker crossed the line way past giving unsolicited advice in some pretty disturbing ways. However, most of us just deal with the occasional coworker who apparently just doesn’t have enough going on in their own life.
The answer posted includes some very good tips for dealing with a run-of-the-mill busybody. Here’s an excerpt: “Sometimes a nice way to begin the confrontation process is to just thank the person for being a caring person. If their goal is to feel like a caring person, and you satisfy that, they may not feel the need to be so nosy. If it increases the nosiness, a specific thank you for their advice/observation can be given, so they know that the specific advice they gave “got through.” Then they might feel like their obligation to get their point across has been satisfied.”
How do you deal with nosy coworkers? Is the answer none of our business? Let us know in the comments.