Staff II – Text
Check unknown vocabulary before you read the text:
to leap – move or act quickly or suddenly
brief – taking a short time; using few words
aggravating – making worse or more troublesome
bully – a person who hurts or frightens other, weaker people
to strike – arrive at or achieve by or as by balancing
battering ram – a very heavy metal bar used by firefighters and law enforcement officers to break down walls and doors
forceful – full of force; powerful; effective
turf – the range of the authority or influence of a person, group, or thing
bruised – injured; hurt
obnoxious – highly objectionable or offensive
to tune out – stop paying attention to a person, situation
to survey – make a sampling, or partial collection, of facts, figures, or opinions taken and used to indicate what a complete collection and analysis might show
swear words – a strong language; curses
sparingly – economically
hint – an indirect, covert, or helpful suggestion
offended – displeased; angry
to speak up – speak without fear or hesitation
sufficient(ly) – adequate for the purpose; enough
to embrace – take or receive gladly; accept willingly
longshoreman – a dock worker who loads and unloads ships
to broach – mention or suggest for the first time
higher-up – a person in a position of higher authority in an organization; superior
Common Workplace Troubles
A reader writes: "Dear Annie: I was hired about six months ago to do part of the work a colleague had been doing. Lately, he has developed the extremely rude habit of interrupting whenever I'm speaking – and almost always leaping to the wrong conclusion. He shouts me down to interrupt me. It's not that I'm delivering long monologues; I try to keep my remarks brief and to the point. This is really aggravating an already stressful working relationship. How does one make "shut up and let me finish" sound polite?"
The solution? The person interrupting you is not only rude but is also a bully. For bullies, everything is a control issue, so you need to let him know that you are in control. How you deliver your message is just as important as what you say. It's up to you to strike a delicate balance, somewhere between a battering ram and a doormat. When your co-worker starts to interrupt you, say something like, "One moment, Fred (or whatever his name is), I'm not finished." Say it with a strong and confident tone. If you have a soft voice, you might also accompany it with a forceful hand motion. Make sure to do this consistently every time he interrupts. Sooner or later he'll get the point. One other thought: this guy might be struggling with some turf issues, raised by your having been brought in to take over part of his job. Many people's egos are quite fragile and easily bruised, and that can give rise to some prettyobnoxious behavior – constantly interrupting, for example. Maybe he'd calm down and let you finish a sentence if you gave him a pat on the back once in a while and made a point of acknowledging his contributions to the team. It's worth a try.
Another common problem is if you work in an office where every other word out of co-workers' mouths is f*** or sh** or some such? Is it worth trying to do anything about this, or should you just try to tune it out?
If hearing a constant stream of obscenities is starting to get on your nerves, here are a few suggestions. Earlier this year, WorldWIT, an online network of professional women, surveyed its 40,000 members and found that about 80% think workplace profanity has increased over the past five years, especially in environments where people are stressed out a lot of the time. Most respondents weren't categorically opposed to swear words – "Well-placed profanity has its place, if used sparingly," one wrote – but the majority did agree that constantly using the strong language is unlikely to do anything good for one's career. Everyone has his or her own comfort level with strong language. The best way to make your own tolerance level known is to comment, gently, when you hear something that's just too harsh for your ears. You can say 'Yikes!' or 'Eek!' or some other exclamation, and then add, 'Can I ask you to find a less colorful expression?' 95% of people will get the hint. What if they don't? Then speak to your boss about it. People who are offended by profanity often don't speak up because they fear they won't be viewed as sufficiently hard-core or tough. But companies are working on becoming more diverse, and part of diversity is embracing all sorts of communication styles and values. No one should have to work in an F-this, F-that environment if they're not comfortable. Of course, it's possible that your boss is one of the people in your office who talks like a longshoreman, in which case you will have to broach the subject carefully. Emphasize the business consequences: You're worried that all this salty talk will make your group seem unprofessional to higher-ups, or to customers, or both. In the end, though, some corporate cultures are more accepting of bad language than others (as anyone who's ever spent any time at a Wall Street trading desk can attest), and trying to change the whole culture is likely to be a losing battle. In that case, you have a decision to make: Is your job satisfying enough in every other respect that you can learn to overlook this? If not, you may be happier working somewhere else.