Coworker's OCD is impeding my work flow
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Anonymous
| I work with a young woman who has been diagnosed with OCD. However, if she is medicated, it is not effective. She interrupts what I am doing constantly to ask that we clean or tidy the work space, redo drafts for visual rather than content issues, and generally nit pick. I've explained that I find it difficult to hold or reestablish my train of thought due to these interruptions. Our immediate supervisor was involved in the tidying the workspace issue. He confirmed that the space was not overly messy and, while it was nice to be more visually organized if we had an outside visitor, it was more important to him that we were working and not filing, unfiling, and refiling all day. In her zeal to organize, she has thrown out materials we needed and kept others that are worthless. She seems bewildered by the consequences of her actions and when I am frustrated with her, it increases her OCD. Complicating all of this is the fact that our supervisor dislikes intervening in these type of situations. I worry that he will be annoyed with me if I keep appealing to him to rein in my coworker's behavior. I am MUCH more productive when she is not here and have started hiding from her when she is here. |
Anonymous
| Do you report to her? If not, why can she tell you to clean your desk etc? |
Anonymous
| Can you flexiplace at least one a week? |
Anonymous
This is at my part-time gig so I lack that option. |
Anonymous
| Maybe there is a way you can reduce the constant interruptions by creating a safe time of day when she is free to organize/straighten/revise to her heart's content. |
Anonymous
I don't report to her. She doesn't tell me to clean. She just asks nonstop until I do it or say she can do it. |
Anonymous
| When she is not around - mess up her desk. She'll be so freaked out trying to get her s*** together she won't have time to mess with yours. |
Anonymous
|
Do you share desks or office space? Separate yourselves for work. Maybe there is a common space where you can go to work cooperatively? The fact that she has thrown out important materials is a larger issue and that's where your supervisor needs to step in and give her limits or provide her with more personal projects that allow her to work alone.
That said, it can be nice to have someone cleaning up and filing all the time! I have a volunteer who enjoys all the mundane things I find tedious. She alphabetizes, files, copies, etc - all the little things that bog me down. I love her!! |
Anonymous
Lol. You make her seem like those dogs who were bred to do a job and go nuts if they can't do their job or there is no job to do. |
Anonymous
| I would suggest sitting down with her and making a schedule and setting guidelines, firm guidelines, and boundaries. Let her know that except for "the schedule" you will NOT clean and organize. Point to the schedule if she asks otherwise. |
Anonymous
| Sounds like she needs more work to do so she doesn't waste time impeding your work flow. |
Anonymous
| quit |
Anonymous
The two of you are obviously really empathetic people. I doubt the co-worker really enjoys having OCD. OP, I second the suggestion to try to sit down with her and talk about it at a time when she is not trying to tidy up. |
Anonymous
|
Not being mean, but by the time a person is an adult, they should be able to manage their issues, and that includes OCD. Just because you have OCD, ADHD or any other issue doesn't mean you are just allowed to go running around doing whatever the hell you want. You still have to be able to function in society. Medicated or not, this person needs to figure out what is and isn't ok to do in a workplace, and needs to learn that some things need to happen inside of her own head instead of out in public.
I have a friend who blames a lot of stuff on her adult ADHD, including missing deadlines for things like car inspections. One of our friends dared to suggest putting it on the calendar with reminders to get it done by a certain day, and got reamed for being insensitive and clueless. But in my view, if you haven't figured out how to manage your life by your early 40's, you have bigger problems than ADHD. |
Anonymous
How are you responding ? Are you be passive aggressive? Try saying, "it doesn't need to be cleaned. I need to concentrate on my work." |