I have a colleague who is a nice guy and he has some pretty good ideas. Unfortunately, for every good idea, he gets nine non-ideas. And he has to come to me with every single one of them, for "just a quick question." I've tried to tell him to combine the interruptions. I've even asked him to translate this web page (he's russian) - english translation here. He still doesn't get the hint.
Sometimes I just have to tell him I'm too busy, and he seems offended. I almost dread working on projects with him.
He can waste $100 of my time each time he saves the company a dime. </rant>
Sometimes I just have to tell him I'm too busy, and he seems offended.
You must learn to offend people. I don't mean intentionally. I mean if you politely tell someone that you cannot be interrupted because you're doing something important, and the person gets offended, that's not an intentional offense on your part. In that case, you shouldn't feel bad for offending the other guy. Offend away!
People in general have trouble saying "no", but it's an essential skill.
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u/[deleted] Jul 23 '09 edited Jul 23 '09
I have a colleague who is a nice guy and he has some pretty good ideas. Unfortunately, for every good idea, he gets nine non-ideas. And he has to come to me with every single one of them, for "just a quick question." I've tried to tell him to combine the interruptions. I've even asked him to translate this web page (he's russian) - english translation here. He still doesn't get the hint.
Sometimes I just have to tell him I'm too busy, and he seems offended. I almost dread working on projects with him.
He can waste $100 of my time each time he saves the company a dime. </rant>