The subject of handling coworkers who just want to chat while you need to work came up at the EDSymposium16 session, “You Don’t Have to go Home From Work Exhausted: Work/Life Balance in Today’s World.” Some attendees had interesting and effective ways of stopping the Chatty Cathy’s of the workplace. For example:

• One firm gives their staff big headphones to wear, instead of everyone wearing their small earbuds. With earbuds, sometimes you can’t tell if they’re being worn or not, so others will come up to you and start talking (do you hear them but pretend you don’t hear them?). Wearing those huge, honking headphones sends a clear message, “Don’t bother me right now.”
• Danika’s technique is to get up and walk with them to the bathroom. When she gets to the door, the conversation ends.
• Kathy loses eye contact. She’ll keep typing without looking at them.
• Julie will pick up papers in her office and walk them out of her space.
• Shannon gets up and says, “I’m going to the kitchen to get some coffee. Would you like to come with me?” Then when she gets her coffee, she’ll say, “Now I have to (fill in something here). Would you like to come with me?” She says the chatty person will eventually give up.
• After hearing those methods, Carrie said, “You guys are too nice; I just tell them I’m busy.”

Those are some great (and funny) techniques. Whatever works for you, keep on doing it!