[CUBEIQUITOUS]

My co-worker on the other side of the cube has the loudest typing habits out of anyone I've ever work with. It's so bad that a client asked me the other day if I could hear the crackle on the phone. Knowing that it was my co-worker, I told him no I don't hear anything and he decided it must be his cell phone. I'm only in the office 2-3 times a week, so should I even worry about this? Any ideas on how I can handle this?

[Chrissy Scivicque]

Ug! I feel your pain! I wrote an article recently on my cubicle experience in fact - OfficeArrow Community - Communication, People Skills, and Networking - Cubicle Etiquette: How to Survive Life in the Cube

Is there any chance that if you made a joke out of it, they'd get the hint? You could be like, "Wow, who's banging the drums? Oh, that's just you typing!" and see if they laugh but get the hint...I guess that tactic depends on the relationship you have with that person. If it's not a friendly relationship, you might want to be a little more straight-forward and businesslike. Overall, I don't know how big of a deal it really is. I put up with a lot when I was in a cube...mostly because I was pretty sure I did things that secretly annoyed others as well. I just didn't want to start that war.

[NicoleMiller]

I had the same experience at my last job and it was so hard to focus. The person who sat 3 cubes down from me had the loudest typing habits. Everyone who sat around her joked about it with and she would just join in. I got the impression that it was something she wasn't able to change unless she slowed down her typing.

I do agree with the approach of joking about it to see if it is something that he can change. He just may not be aware how distracting it is.

[jord0205]

Maybe he just needs a better keyboard- some keyboards are just really loud no matter who is typing on them.

[anirband]

I agree with Jord. The typing sound comes due to bad or hard keyboards. A change of keyboard should solve the problem.

If the person is a lady, check out her nails. They might be too long and hitting the keys

[anaxdlere]

One thing you could do would be to go buy two soft touch keyboards and come to the office and say, "I found a great deal on these keyboards and thought you might want one too!"
They are fairly inexpensive and your sanity may be worth the 20 dollars it costs to pick them up. Hopefully, the person isn't smashing the keys, caveman style, which no keyboard would help.