Ask the expert: Methods of putting a stop to prattle

The office motor-mouth is upsetting others with her personal dramas and opinions. How can she be made to put a sock in it? Dr MARIE WILSON, head of management and employment relations at the University of Auckland Business School and a veteran of 20 years in corporate management and small business, offers some helpful ideas.

Q: This is not about difficult people as such. The problem is the excessive level of personal chit-chat that goes on (open-plan office, chest-high partitions), in particular the woman next to me.

She tends to involve half the staff with her personal issues. It may be about her having a tiff with one of her girlfriends or her wanting to buy something.

I accept that we all share personal matters with people at work now and again, but she doesn't have limits.

And at times the topic goes on for days. What makes the situation even more difficult is that her boss joins in half the time, so I can't exactly complain.

The noise level is very distracting at times. How do I deal with this without upsetting anyone? The point I want to make is that there have to be certain limits, a time and a place for everything, and the workplace is not the place for soap operas.

A: Open-plan offices are designed to reduce barriers to important business communication and the exchange of ideas, but it's not uncommon to have problems in noise levels and unintentional eavesdropping.

There are a number of things you can do. You have assumed you can't speak to the boss, because they like the gadabout; I'd check on this further, as your boss should be interested in ensuring that everyone performs.

Turn off the other employee. You can do this by rearranging your office so that you face away from her and buying a (small, discreet!) set of headphones and using them with your computer or a portable sound system.

Respond to her starting to chat with a firm, "I'm really busy. I can only spare a minute", then breaking off the conversation the first time she pauses with "Oh, very interesting, but I've got to get back to my work", then break eye contact, turn away if need be and get back to work.

Avoid the problem. Can you use another space - perhaps a quiet meeting room - for some of your work, or use flexi-time so that your hours overlap but you have some time without the resident drama queen?

Address the problem directly. Tell your co-worker that you find her stories a bit too personal and that they are interfering with your work.

And you can always put your hand over your phone call and ask the rest of the office to quiet down so that you can attend to your business call. You can also request a telephone that reduces background noise.

* E-mail your questions for Dr Marie Wilson to answer.