I work on a team with someone who (and I wish I was being hyperbolic) will send chats about every thought/worry/musing/complaint throughout the day in a teams channel meant for substantive work. “I’m angry at the world” “my food is cold and now I’m eating it” “my pet is yelling at me” “I’m so good at this people need to just listen to me”
Constantly. Every day.
I ignore it/engage with an emoji at most, but I also have to sift through all of it to read what may be important to my work. The other team members are slightly more responsive to the chats, but just barely.
It’s not something I want to raise to management as they’re harmless messages (although annoying)
Is there a way to kindly navigate this? We don’t have slack at my org where “random” channels are more common but I’ve thought about proposing one.
Comments
Can you talk to the individual discreetly? If not, I think it’s worth bringing it up to the management if you think they are worth their salt. Clogging the important channel with this nonsense is affecting your work.
I would tell her. My coworkers and I do this, but we all do it.
Yeah, I think proposing a different channel/chat is the way to go. “Can we keep this chat limited to [specific work things], and everything else in [random], for clarity’s sake? Thanks!”
Two things you can try:
Creating a “chitchat” thread (very common on Slack as you said, but I believe you can create one on Teams pretty easily, too). Ask if you can do this, then introduce it as “Got something on your mind? New restaurant you just tried? New band you’re into? Cat just threw up on the rug? Let’s share here!”
Divert every one of her random conversations back to work talk. “My food is cold and now I’m eating it.” “Glad you’re taking lunch, Jennifer. Will everyone be available for the meeting this afternoon?” “My pet is yelling at me.” “Tell the kitty to hush, Jennifer, btw, how’s your report coming along?” After a while she’ll get the hint…maybe?!
Somebody had to simply say please keep this chat for work information only. Seems like this should’ve been nipped in the butt a long time ago.
omg that is the worst. if i were you i’d just silence my notifications and mute the specific chat she’s spamming. i think floating the idea of limiting the chat conversation to work related items is brilliant but i’d make sure to get buy in from your manager before posting anything publicly. You want to make sure you have backup in case she starts moaning and complaining about being shushed to the powers that be. Or better yet – have your manager post it so it’s a clear direction vs. a lateral suggestion from another person on the team. if it’s bothering you i’d bet good money that it’s bothering everyone else too so i don’t think it would be a big ordeal. good luck!
I bet this person is lonely and needs coping strategies outside work.