I was so angry at Michael. His conversation with Jan was just so indicative of how unprofessional he is and how little regard he has for those around him.
And what a little child he is.
There was only an hour left of work, so I slept on the whole thing that night. Do I just call Toby and have him deal with it? Do I pull Michael aside and handle it myself?
I decided to do a combination of both. This was why I met with my HR rep. To prepare for situations just like this.
“Can I speak with you privately for a minute, Michael?” I asked motioning him to the conference room the next morning.
“Sure,” he said with a nervous smile as I shut the door.
“OK,” I said. “You need to know that we all can hear everything that you say to Jan on the phone.”
“OK,” he said, turning pink.
“Everything,” I said. “Even when you whisper”
“OK.” Pinker.
“And it’s embarrassing and unprofessional and it has to get toned down now,” I said.
“OK.” He was red now.
“OK?” I said.
“Well I guess the only thing I have to ask is, could you give some examples?”
“Really?” I asked. “You really don’t know?” (Was this guy for real?)
He turned redder.
“The baby voices you do with her, the cooing, and well yesterday was just downright inappropriate.”
He was panicked now.
“I, uh, I can’t think what you mean.”
“Well if you don’t know what I’m talking about, then you need to think more while you’re actually talking to her. Because we hear it all.”
“Uhhh OK. Thanks.”
“Thank you.”
I left the conference room beaming. I called Toby from my cell phone outside, and he was pleased with the way I handled the situation and was glad Michael seemed embarrassed and told me to let him know if anything more happened.
Of course, this wouldn’t be the last conversation Michael and I would have about this.
(to be continued)
I work at The Office 