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I've been in the IT field for around two years.
One of my colleagues (the 'senior') makes sounds with the keyboard and mouse. Those intentional 'tick-ticks' in a silent environment are annoying for me and for most of our team members.

I have already told him about this indirectly many times, but still there is no positive response.

He's one year senior to me.

  • Should I tell him to stop?

  • How can I do that politely?

Naresh Reddy M
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  • Key boards are same & for usual sounds no one will even care of it,rather he intentionally some time taps the keyboard enter key & other hardly(which in turns to be a TAPPPPPPPPPPPP....). – Naresh Reddy M Feb 16 '17 at 11:47
  • Yes exactly,Types very hardly... – Naresh Reddy M Feb 16 '17 at 11:50
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    Tapping, playing music, talking and even signing I've had. The solution is always the same. Put on your headphones. – dan-klasson Feb 16 '17 at 11:54
  • Thanks dan-klasson - We are not allowed to carry head phones inside the office. – Naresh Reddy M Feb 16 '17 at 11:57
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    That's weird. Do you mind if I ask why? – dan-klasson Feb 16 '17 at 12:02
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    Hehe, ok so why then? :) – dan-klasson Feb 16 '17 at 12:07
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    Edit the question. INTENTIONAL TICK is not clear. Capital and bold don't make it any clearer. – paparazzo Feb 16 '17 at 12:09
  • I really don't have any idea why he's doing..of course that might be intentional and he's a bit egoist and short temper aswell :( – Naresh Reddy M Feb 16 '17 at 12:12
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    Is he just typing and doing his work? Or does he fidget by tick-tick-ticking his keyboard and mouse? Does he hit the keys much harder than most people, or has he been issued a particularly noisy mouse and keyboard? Typing and mouse clicking noises are fairly normal in an office, and INTENTIONAL seems strange in this context. I am typing right now, on purpose, but I'm not doing it to bother those around me. And if someone came and told me to stop I would laugh at them It's my job. Please clarify what the coworker is doing beyond simply typing. – Kate Gregory Feb 16 '17 at 12:30
  • My wife can always hear my typing on the computer even she is in another room. I don't really believe the noise was made intentionally because no one would do this from 9 to 5 non-stop. – Nobody Feb 16 '17 at 12:30
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    is the Senior "[making] sounds with the key board and mouse" just them using their keyboard and mouse to do their job, or are they making some sort of noise apart from that? – Trebor Feb 16 '17 at 13:28
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    Maybe, if you did his work for him along with your own, he could reduce his clicking to what's needed in order to spend all day watching cat videos on youtube instead of making all of that racket by working. – DLS3141 Feb 16 '17 at 14:15
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    What you're asking is extremely unclear. What exactly is he doing? Tapping forcefully on the keyboard and mouse? Using loud equipment (old mousewheel, mechanical keyboard...)? Is he just doing his job or fidgeting? – BgrWorker Feb 16 '17 at 14:21
  • I regularly get scolded by the other 8 people in my office for my mechanical keyboard, which I took pains to make as silent as possible. Brown cherry switches, o-rings, a blotter underneath. Doesn't help. They think it's louder because I write twice as fast as most of them. But I can hear one guy two-finger-smash-typing with force on his laptop-style rubber-dome keyboard through my headphones. Sometimes you have to accept things the way they are. :-/ – simbabque Feb 16 '17 at 15:33
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    Possible duplicate of How do I confront coworkers about their loud, annoying mechanical keyboards – David K Feb 16 '17 at 15:45
  • As someone else said, wear earphones. If someone is using a loud keyboard, or a mouse with audible clicks you cannot really expect them to go and buy new hardware at their expense just to please you. Welcome to real life, there will likely be more, real issues for you to deal with. – NZKshatriya Feb 17 '17 at 01:47

3 Answers3

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Making an issue of it will most probably cause a larger, interpersonal, issue.

It's normal office noise, just get used to it and move on with your life.

Apologies for the short answer, I didn't want to annoy you with my typing/clicking.

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    Exactly, or use earplug, earphones, headphones, or whatever to shield yourself from the noise. Apologies for the short comment, I didn't want to annoy you with my clicking either. – Alic Feb 16 '17 at 19:56
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Wait till you get a colleague that has one of those mechanical keyboards. Those make even more noise.

I've learned to turn mechanical sounds and noise out. Loud voices, music and other stuff I can get understand, but at some point it is unreasonable to expect an office environment to be completely quiet. I only see 2 options here for you. You either talk to management about the headphones policy, or you ask to be relocated to a different office space, one with preferably less or quieter people.

R-D
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    Once I went for this interview and they made me sit down at one of their computers to make a test. And just behind me 4 people were engaged into a technical converstation that almost amounted to screaming at each other. I said thanks but no thanks and left. – dan-klasson Feb 16 '17 at 12:07
  • I'm that guy with the mechanical keyboard. In my room they don't let me use my blue switches though. Everyone hates me for even having brown switches. Three doors down the whole room has blue ones and the door open all the time, and no-one cares. – simbabque Feb 16 '17 at 15:35
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    @simbabque, I read that after I posted my comment, that's why I deleted it already... and since the browns are already the most silent ones out there I have no other suggestions. – R-D Feb 16 '17 at 16:38
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I would say message him and ask him politely if there was a way he could type and move his mouse a little more quietly :) it might even be a way to get to know him better.

Alternatively, you could play it safe and just dismiss it as normal office noise.

Caleb Miller
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