×
INTELLIGENT WORK FORUMS
FOR ENGINEERING PROFESSIONALS

Log In

Come Join Us!

Are you an
Engineering professional?
Join Eng-Tips Forums!
  • Talk With Other Members
  • Be Notified Of Responses
    To Your Posts
  • Keyword Search
  • One-Click Access To Your
    Favorite Forums
  • Automated Signatures
    On Your Posts
  • Best Of All, It's Free!
  • Students Click Here

*Eng-Tips's functionality depends on members receiving e-mail. By joining you are opting in to receive e-mail.

Posting Guidelines

Promoting, selling, recruiting, coursework and thesis posting is forbidden.

Students Click Here

Jobs

How to avoid drama at work?
4

How to avoid drama at work?

How to avoid drama at work?

(OP)
Gosh. I'm too exhausted to write up a lengthy post, folks, but I'm up to here with drama at work.

RE: How to avoid drama at work?

Drama is what makes going into work interesting. winky smile Particularly if you've got a cooperative customer, or is that a noncooperative one?

TTFN

FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies

RE: How to avoid drama at work?

"How to avoid drama at work?"

Work alone with no customers, no clients and no external factors beyond your direct control.

In some cases drama can be reduced but rarely if ever eliminated completely.

Some people seem to actively seek it out in fact.

KENAT, probably the least qualified checker you'll ever meet...

RE: How to avoid drama at work?

2
"How to avoid drama at work?"

Stay home!

cheers

RE: How to avoid drama at work?

I avoid those that create the drama. When they bring their home drama to work, I ask them to stop. I have made a few enemies, but they eventually quit. I work at my job, I play at home. Even when I work virtual from home...it's work.
When asked about personal issues, depends on the person, I draw the line how much info I give them.
Usually when I start a new position I'm called the "quiet one". That is because I'm scoping out who are the drama queen's and who can I trust.
Then I make friends. Just stay away from the drama and don't listen to it. I listen to my iPod most of the time.

Chris
SolidWorks/PDMWorks 08 3.1
AutoCAD 06/08
ctopher's home (updated Jul 13, 2008)

RE: How to avoid drama at work?

Read Dilbert.

RE: How to avoid drama at work?

Some drama is fun to watch.  We currently have a situation where the main players will never actually discuss the core issue and their common line manager has zero ability to deal with either the issue or the players.  I am neither in a position to mediate, nor directly affected by it so for me it's pure entertainment.  Grown men behaving like prima donnas.

- Steve

RE: How to avoid drama at work?

I don't know........ I have ZERO drama at work.  It's really kind of nice.  It makes for an excellent place to learn and grow professionally.  Is finding a workplace without drama really that difficult?

RE: How to avoid drama at work?

Quote (George Washington):

Be cordial with all, but intimate with few.

The best thing is to avoid the dramatists.  I believe people have a right to enter their workplace without being assailed by coworkers' personal drama.  Unfortunately, my view is not widely shared.

A good deterrent is to tell offenders that you don't think what they are saying is appropriate in a professional setting.  Especially true with divorce/custody/child support drama.

RE: How to avoid drama at work?

I suspect the OP was more concerned with drama queens at work.

Well hello. The fact is that there aren't many people who can force a project forward in the face of 'paralysis by analysis'- so ultimately you (I) just put your foot down and say this is the way to go. With the usual humpbacked profile of age vs seniority that we deal with now, that is going to become more and more necessary (and unpopular) as time goes on.



 

Cheers

Greg Locock

SIG:Please see FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies for tips on how to make the best use of Eng-Tips.

RE: How to avoid drama at work?

How to avoid drama at work: be the bigger/mature person.

"Art without engineering is dreaming; Engineering without art is calculating."

Have you read FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies to make the be

RE: How to avoid drama at work?

Are we talking personal drama like:
"Hey, you can't sleep with my wife..........."

or work drama like
"The IT department requires that everyone stop uses form 3.2.1 and immediately start using form 3.2.2 for the submission of problem tickets; anyone failing to follow this policy will get a written warning" LOL

drama is what makes work fun.
 

RE: How to avoid drama at work?

For us it's model-year (MY) politics.

MY1 reckon their product is "the one true product" and the MY2 team are wasting their time.

MY2 reckon the MY1 team are turd-polishing obsolete product.

MY1 & MY2 teams only talk via coded messages in department meetings.

- Steve

RE: How to avoid drama at work?

I'm usually the cause of the drama because I'm the only one who questions stupid decisions and policies.

They've also learned to beta-test software upgrades on me because if anyone is going to break it, I will.

Hg

Eng-Tips policies:  FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies

RE: How to avoid drama at work?

I've found you can't have drama unless there's both an actor and an audience.  Stop being the audience and you'll be surprised how quickly it goes away

-
Syl.

RE: How to avoid drama at work?

I second SomptingGuy's approach.
Look at it as a comedy. Keep in mind that before you had this job, you had to go to the box office and pay for tickets to see a comedy in a theater. Now you get this for free. Just make sure the government doesn't find out you look at it this way, or you will have to pay sin tax.

RE: How to avoid drama at work?

I like the comedy approach as well.  I like to think of my office as "The Office" on TV.  It really is like a sitcom.  We don't have a Pam though, we really need to get one of those.

I find a couple drinks at night also help...

RE: How to avoid drama at work?

It's fun to watch till it directly affects you.  Though I suppose at that point you should move on.

KENAT, probably the least qualified checker you'll ever meet...

RE: How to avoid drama at work?

macmet,

i don't think many engineering offices have a Pam though..or any female for that matter, lol!

RE: How to avoid drama at work?

a lot of times the 'drama' can be avoided by smply ignoring it and choosing not to involve yourself....
myself though, i choose to go the 'comedy route' and ultimately have as much fun with it as possible....
or be sooo sarcastic that they catch my drift and leave me alone

"Don't worry about the world coming to an end today. It's already tomorrow in Australia."  
---Charles Schulz
"Beer is living proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy."
---Benjamin Franklin

RE: How to avoid drama at work?

How to avoid?

Shave your head, sew NRA patches onto your shirts, carry a side arm in a holster that is clearly visible; get lots of tattos and body piercings; stop brushing your teeth, washing, and using deodorant; and go "ballistic" when someone even talks to you.  They'll leave you alone then!

Good luck,
Latexman

RE: How to avoid drama at work?

Become a contract engineer, no one wants to get a guy that costs that amount of money involved in the basic dramas (politics) of day to day business.....

Failing that, a nice long stick with a few nails in it will keep most people away

Kevin

"It is a mathematical fact that fifty percent of all doctors graduate in the bottom half of their class." ~Author Unknown

"If two wrongs don't make a right, try three." ~Author Unknown
 

RE: How to avoid drama at work?

I did a stint as a contractor when I was a couple of years out of school.  Next to the money, the next best thing was that as an outsider I was not subject to the drama/office politics.   

RE: How to avoid drama at work?

My last place the contractors were half the drama.

KENAT, probably the least qualified checker you'll ever meet...

RE: How to avoid drama at work?

If possible, clueless works (grin)... ie if you just don't notice the drama, people may stop bringing it to you....

SLH
 

RE: How to avoid drama at work?

Quote (calguy07):



i don't think many engineering offices have a Pam though..or any female for that matter, lol!  


Hey, I missed that one...

Funny, every one I've worked with has had at least one. I just can't figure it out.... In fact I don't think I've ever worked at a more than one-engineer workplace where there wasn't more than one.


SLH
 

RE: How to avoid drama at work?

all three places i have work did not have women engineers.

RE: How to avoid drama at work?

Well, we do not have any women engineers either... I meant more of her other personal traits than her profession though.

RE: How to avoid drama at work?

Our local drama entered a new phase yesterday.  A full-on half hour shouting match between the players.  All this under the nose of the "boss", who stared into his computer screen through it all, his neck getting shorter and shorter.

This comedy is turning into a farce.  Next it'll be a tragedy.  Luckily we don't condone guns here.

- Steve

RE: How to avoid drama at work?

You could try.  "Hey guys!!!  Can you take it outside?  I'm trying to work here."  Although not knowing your situation this could come with it's own set of problems for you.  Can you talk to your boss? Does your boss have a boss?  Is there an HR department?

Good Luck

Eddie

RE: How to avoid drama at work?

How tragic it becomes when you have drama about you at work. it would drive me insane to be involved in an office where drama is played out each and every day. Its tiresome and demeaning, so much so that id take a stand against it and let the perpretrators know that it isnt appreciated.

Private issues stay private - dont dump them on those that work with you at work.

Work issues well if they are bitching about work drama then this needs to eb acted upon - is there an HR department or someone able to get it in the open and weed out the dramatics? more often or not its the look at me types the ones that like to be in the spotlight and crave attention. Just ensure that you can give em the wrong attention, that often works and gets the issues resolved.

Some one used to like screaming the place down - made a scene and generally made it uncomfortable for others - so a microphone hooked up to the pc one day and sound recorder working on the pc. Recorded it saved it and then when the dramatics were finished played it back over the PC at full volume. That got her attention, tried to say it was harassment, said that what she was subjecting us to was harassment in its own right. Told her that I had a copy of that on the PC and would email the sound file to everyone if she continued to display those characteristics in the office. Good thing was that she crapped on about the boss and generall made a meal of everyone that she diding like and all the issues that she was having in life. mostly work - people who had cotton on to her I suppose. But it stopped from that day on, and the others in the office all said that they had copies and would send it out if she started again.

RE: How to avoid drama at work?

I've always been one who can mediate in these situations.  My plan for the next bust up is to suggest they book a meeting room for their argument so the rest of us can work ... and maybe invite short-necked boss too.

- Steve

RE: How to avoid drama at work?

My mind is boggling over what sort of drama someone called "Clansman" may be experiencing!

RE: How to avoid drama at work?

One tip...when the lawyers start getting involved, that's when your in drama.

Red Flag This Post

Please let us know here why this post is inappropriate. Reasons such as off-topic, duplicates, flames, illegal, vulgar, or students posting their homework.

Red Flag Submitted

Thank you for helping keep Eng-Tips Forums free from inappropriate posts.
The Eng-Tips staff will check this out and take appropriate action.

Reply To This Thread

Posting in the Eng-Tips forums is a member-only feature.

Click Here to join Eng-Tips and talk with other members!


Resources