Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When they start a conversation, say "I only have 5 minutes" Then leave at the 5 minute mark- saying I gotta meeting, or my boss needs something, or I have a call.

What if they set up camp in your office?

I give them a few minutes and then will say "Thanks for stopping by. I have some things to get done before the next meeting, so I'll talk to you next time." I then turn back to my computer and return to work. If they try to keep the conversation going, then I put them in the "Uh huh. Yes. Yup." responses and will concentrate on my computer and not on them.

+1 Here’s hoping polite and direct works. Don’t waste time on passive-aggressive ploys - unless you really want or like to wear noise-canceling headphones. I do think those tend to discourage people from stopping by. I have no idea whether they are comfortable to wear all day long.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When they start a conversation, say "I only have 5 minutes" Then leave at the 5 minute mark- saying I gotta meeting, or my boss needs something, or I have a call.

What if they set up camp in your office?

I give them a few minutes and then will say "Thanks for stopping by. I have some things to get done before the next meeting, so I'll talk to you next time." I then turn back to my computer and return to work. If they try to keep the conversation going, then I put them in the "Uh huh. Yes. Yup." responses and will concentrate on my computer and not on them.

Anonymous wrote:There is one person on my team that every time I’m in a meeting when the, the person leading the meeting says we are done they always say “I have one quick thing” and they talk for 45 minutes. About nothing.

I have absolutely no problem speaking up and saying "That's a great topic, but I think you can take this off-line from the meeting and meet with a smaller group. When the smaller group has something to pass along, they can summarize the discussion at the next meeting. Larlo, you can organize the smaller group with whoever you need to work on this." with Larlo being the person who brought it up.

Op, put your status as "red" busy, when the co-worker comes over, point to the status and say whisper "sorry". GL

Anonymous wrote:Government?

Of course. It’s all bullshit and then time to go home.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Noise canceling headphones are your friend.

No help. They come to my office and won’t leave.

-dp

I'm sorry, but you have to buck up your courage and tell them to leave. We had this issue in my office and a person who has enough seniority and experience that they should be able to handle this came to me as the no. 2 to ask for help. I did help, but my first counsel was that you need to tell the person.

Put a clock where it's visible and note that it's been 15 minutes and you really have to get back to work
Put a meeting on your calendar and set an alert
Stand up and excuse yourself for the restroom
See another co-worker walk by and exclaim, "I really need to catch Larla - great chatting!" and leave
Be blunt and tell them you enjoy the conversation but it's cutting into your work time
Reconfigure your office so you don't face the door. When your chatty Cathy comes in, don't turn to face them and engage. Keep working.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When they start a conversation, say "I only have 5 minutes" Then leave at the 5 minute mark- saying I gotta meeting, or my boss needs something, or I have a call.

What if they set up camp in your office?

Tell them you have a call that you need to get on and smile and if they don't leave say I need to get on this call now smile and turn it back on them and pick up the phone or put your headphones on for teams meeting or whatever
Or say you're busy working on something and you don't have time to talk. Smile and turn back to your computer.

They’ve been deprived of office chatting for 3-4 years.

It’s the *collaboration* that the bosses wanted. Great work!