Do you have a workplace dilemma?
If you have a work related question and are unsure where to turn for advice then click on the 'Ask a Career Surgery Question' button below and we could be helping to solve your career problems very shortly.
Making a noise about work - advice from Karren Brady
I am a man in an all-female office. We get on really well but I find I can't concentrate with all their chatter. Without losing my temper how can I raise it? I don't want them to laugh at me or stop talking to me.
You clearly work in a lively and friendly atmosphere and some people would die for that! In some respects, it is excellent to have a friendly office but there are times when you need to be able to focus on the job in hand and you need to communicate this to your colleagues in a friendly and informal way.
The chatter will be an issue that doesn't just affect you, it will also affect some of the other women you are working with. Try to talk to everyone individually and give a reason for why you cannot concentrate. But if you don't feel you can talk to your colleagues then you need to go to your boss
and explain that noise levels are making it hard to work.