Quiz: 5 Ways to Practice Proper Headphone Etiquette

 

If you work in an office with no walls between the desks, you probably have headphones for those times when you need a little acoustic privacy. But how do you manage the new etiquette of being physically present in a space but studiously not available — which is what wearing headphones often indicates? Try our little etiquette quiz:

1. Getting attention. When you want to talk to someone wearing headphones, the correct way to get his attention is to: 

a) Tap him on the shoulder.
b) Yell at him.
c) Knock on his desk or the top of his cubicle wall.
d) Wave at him.
e) Send an instant message.

Answer: c), Knock. Or maybe d), Wave. Tapping someone can be very startling. You want his attention, not to shock him. Yelling is just rude. But a nice knock can often be felt as well as heard, even when a person is listening to loud music. Waving can work, but sometimes you have to get right into the person’s field of vision for him to register that you’re there, and that’s not always possible.

Also read: What It Means to Wear Headphones at Work

If you’re sitting at the next desk over, you can also e) send an IM from your computer. It’s a good way to pop up an alert on someone’s screen. But standing behind someone and tapping out a message on your smartphone while they’re sitting down right in front of you should only be done when the person is so jacked into the virtual world that they’re completely oblivious to the physical world around them. In which case, you might be better off leaving them alone anyway.jahsent932.blogspot.com