#123 Voice Volume

A guy that I work with is notorious for having a loud, booming voice. Apparently all of our company's customers that interact with him just love him because he's nice or whatever, but I am so annoyed by him for many, many reasons.

When I first started working at this company, we had to work on a project together. He called me by a different name on a number of occasions: Melissa, Michelle, Lisa (don't ask me how you get Lisa from Melanie... I will never know). He has also sent numerous emails to a different Melanie (probably the only other person in the entire company who shares my first name) because he once sent her an email so her name pops up in the "To:" field first (and he's too oblivious to notice). My name is not that difficult. If I had a strange or unusual name that is predominant in a foreign country, I could totally understand that someone could have some difficulty with it. I could also understand if perhaps we didn't work together often, but this guy saw me in the office every single day.

He also draws out many filler words. "Yeaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh" or "oooooooooooookaaaaaaaayyyy" or even "wellllllllllllllllll" are ones he uses often. Then he passes by and starts off with, "Heeeeeeeeyyyyy there." A simple, "Good morning" or "Hello" would suffice, thanks.

This guy is lucky enough to have an office. He frequently has conversations with coworkers outside of his office, and his voice can literally be heard clear across half the building (or farther!). This is particularly distracting when a) I'm on the phone (this causes difficulty hearing the person(s) on the other end of the line, and b) when the conversation is non-work related, which is often the case.

Actually, conversations that occur within his office are particularly distracting as well. He will actually talk louder while he's on the phone in his office than when he has a face-to-face conversation with someone. On a few different occasions I have actually walked over to his office and closed the door while he was talking to someone (either on speakerphone, on the telephone handset, or in-person).

I don't understand why, if there is a door on your office, you don't CLOSE IT when you're having a conversation. No one wants to hear what you're talking about! If you want someone to join the conversation, please invite them into your office. If you don't want people to hear a private conversation, close the door. Additionally, lowering your voice is helpful, too! In most cases, the conversations this guy is having are of absolutely no interest to me.

Some people would argue that I could just ignore him. To that argument I say, "It's easier said than done." Even with earbuds playing music or laboratory-issued certified hearing protection for noisy environments, I can STILL hear hear his voice. It's ridiculous.