The halls are alive

October 19, 2000
Web posted at: 6:38 p.m. EDT (2238 GMT)

With Ann Humphries, ETICON

(CNN) -- If Julie Andrews were two seats away from you warbling at the top of her celebrated voice, things would be different, wouldn't they? Well of course they would.

But that's no Julie. And she's not doing Rodgers and Hammerstein, either.

That's your co-worker holding forth at high volume, doing her best shower-stall renditions of highlights from the world of operetta. You know the one.

Her happiest memories of college seem to involve back-to-back junior-year productions of "The Mikado," "H.M.S. Pinafore" and "The Pirates of Penzance."

Or he's your supervisor. And he's got this tri-city whistling-choir thing he does after hours ... and during hours, too. "You Light Up My Life." "What the World Needs Now." "Up-Up and Away."

In the offices of your community theater, this is not a problem. In the offices of your company, it's a problem. People are trying to think. They're trying to talk on the phone. They're trying to carry on business. They climb no mountains, ford no streams and are not in costume.

But how do you solve a problem like Maria? You've seen the happiness in her eyes when she looks at you -- it's your cue to join her in "Three Little Maids." And you know the guy thinks he sounds like something out of "The Bridge on the River Kwai."

CNN: So before a fourth Gilbert and Sullivan operetta can be added to the repertoire, we've asked ETICON founder and president Ann Humphries, what do you say to the corporate chanteuse and the business baritone without hurting their feelings?

Ann Humphries: There's not just one single way to approach this. You have options. Of course, you overlook it the first few times. But when it's the fourth, fifth and sixth time, you've waited too long to intervene. Here are some possibilities.

CAREER SING-ALONG Just find your pitch, take a deep breath and belt out what issues of business etiquette you'd like to see addressed here in Corporate Class. And a one, and a two ... .

QUICK VOTE How good are you at asking a corporate chanteuse or business baritone to pipe down? I'm terrible at it. I'm too afraid of hurting the singer's feelings. So I suffer a lot of bad Gershwin. I can bring it up, but I'll lie and say the sound is bothering "other people." Three words: "Please shut up." Five more words: "And no dance numbers, either." View Results

•  Consider that she or he is begging for a compliment. So start with a compliment. It works as equity. "I really love to hear you sing, you have such a great voice. But you know, it's starting to be a problem. It's hard to work when you're singing at 10:30 in the morning." There's a candor and a frankness to this approach. People are stunned by. They respect it.

•  The next possible route is less courageous. You tease the singer. "When is the next performance? When are we going to hear 'Les Miz'? Don't start without me." It might work.

•  After that, you may be tempted to try something cheap: Anonymous notes. I've never done this because I was afraid I'd be discovered.

•  So the fourth option -- if individual approaches have failed -- is to go to your singer as a group. "You know, the sound is crowding us. Look, it's offensive and we really need you to work with us on this." And when you go as a group, you still want some compliment to it, you don't want to put the singer on the defensive. So you deal with him or her firmly but nicely. "We're your friends." She may pout, he may get his feelings hurt. Let your singer go through that and get over it. As a group, there's no personal vendetta. So going as a group is important.

•  Now if the singing doesn't stop, you start to document it for the supervisor. It could be an anomaly, but it's likely symptomatic of other problems -- she's out of touch, he's not a good match for the organization. This is another good reason to act early, while people can still be made useful. And once it goes to management, it's out of your hands.

•  Of course, one last option is to get used to it. Maybe the behavior is running its course.

But look at yourself, too. One reason people sometimes hesitate to say something is because we all have flaws. "Mine might be pointed out, too." I think that's an inappropriate response. Of course you have flaws, but if someone is singing in the middle of your work space, you're working under flawed circumstances and you have to speak up. You have to be brave.

Ann Humphries, founder and president of ETICON, Inc. and a Certified Professional Consultant to Management, includes several Fortune 500 companies among her clients. She's been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Fortune and Money, and on CNN, CBS and Lifetime TV. You can contact her at www.eticon.com

ETICON, Inc.

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