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Asking a Coworker to Tone Down Their Perfume |Dodging Landmines

Asking someone something personal, like wearing less perfume, is a delicate situation. By framing it as a favor, the person may be more likely to comply. If they chose not to, Ed Muzio, CEO of Group Harmonics, says you have to decide if the issue is important enough to create a conflict over.

Speaker: Ed Muzio, CEO, Group Harmonics

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Tags: Dodging Landmines, perfume, etiquette, coworker

 

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Asking a Coworker to Tone Down Their Perfume |Dodging Landmines

Asking someone something personal, like wearing less perfume, is a delicate situation. By framing it as a favor, the person may be more likely to comply. If they chose not to, Ed Muzio, CEO of Group Harmonics, says you have to decide if the issue is important enough to create a conflict over.

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>> Let's say there is someone who is sitting very, very close to me and they wear way too much cologne or perfume and it's really affecting me and affecting my work. What can I do about this?

>> This is a tricky one. This is a very personal issue and what you want to do is you want to approach the person that way and you want to say, "Look I need to talk to you about something that's a very personal thing. I need to ask you a favor. I have an allergy, I have a sensitivity or however you want to phrase it, and I need your help because the perfume or the cologne you are wearing is actually impacting my ability to work. Can you help me by toning it down a little bit?"

>> Say they don't like you that much and they decide they're not going to help you. What do you do then?

>> They might choose not to and that's their choice and you have to decide whether it's worth having the conflict if it's that important to you. If it is, what you do is you go back to them again and you say, "Look I hate to have to approach you with this and I apologize, but it is still affecting me and so strongly that I feel like if you and I can't solve it together, I'm going to have to be moved, to be reseated because it's something I can't really handle; and so I'm hoping you'll help me and that we can work on our level because I really don't want to escalate it, I don't want to put that kind of attention on this kind of an uncomfortable issue."

>> Instead just try to make it a win-win situation working together.

>> Win-win situation and their choice. Give them the choice because it is their choice but let them know that if they choose not to do anything, you will choose to do something else because it's important to you as well.

>> In summary?

>> In summary, again, approach carefully and cautiously, leave them all the choices and decisions, ask for their help, frame it as a favor.

==== Transcribed by Automatic Sync Technologies ====