Sounding Board

Open plan offices

Enquiry: I work in an open plan office which I share with my boss and one other person. When a colleague comes into the room to speak to my boss, I cannot follow what they say. If I was a hearing person sitting there, I would have heard what was said and then can decide whether to tune in or not. As I cannot pick it up in the first place, I ask my interpreters what was said, if interesting then I might ask further questions to my boss, otherwise if it isn’t interesting then I don't ask any further questions. If no interpreter present then I ask my boss, what did the colleague want to know and then if it is interesting, then I ask him more questions. Is it ok for me to do that? My boss not said anything negative about me asking what people say when they come in and he seems happy, but I don’t want to overdo it, but I would like to have the same access that I would have had as if I was a hearing person. Is it ok for me to carry on do that?
Reply: This is quite a tricky one. You are quite right that as a hearing person, you would be able to decide whether the conversation was of interest or relevant to you through over hearing what was being said. Sometimes you might not be interested but also sometimes you might feel it was ‘none of your business’ and so not interrupt or you might be too busy and not want to break your concentration.
You need a way to make sure that your boss and other colleagues know that you are not able to overhear and that you would like to be included in the conversation if it might be relevant or interesting. I would suggest that you speak to your boss directly about this explaining your predicament: you don’t want to be a nuisance or interfere if it’s none of your business, however you would like to be included if that seems appropriate, in the same way that a hearing person might.
You could also put up a notice near your desk saying something like…. “I can’t overhear you but I’d love to be included in your conversation if it’s appropriate.” You might want to make it more amusing perhaps saying ‘Warning – nosy person at work’ or a cartoon, showing a sense of humour is more likely to get a positive response. If it is colourful and attracts attention, people might ask about it, giving you the chance to explain the situation. If you change the notice and its position from time to time, it may remind people.
Once people know that you like to be included, you can just look up and point to the sign to remind them…

Posted on February 12, 2010 17:02