My coworker puts me on speakerphone without warning—so I gave her a taste of her own medicine
I work in an open-plan office. Desks everywhere. No privacy. "Lisa" sits three feet away from me.
She takes calls all day. Personal calls. Doctor's appointments. Planning her kid's birthday party. Complaining about her husband. We all hear everything.
But the worst part? She puts ME on speakerphone when I call her.
Every time I need to ask her something, she picks up and suddenly my voice is blasting across the entire floor. She never says, "Hey, you're on speaker." She just does it.
I've asked her twice to stop. She laughed and said, "Oh, I just like to be hands-free!"
Last week, I heard her on the phone with a client. She was being so sweet and professional. Then she hung up and immediately said to another coworker: "That client is such an idiot. I can't stand her."
That gave me an idea.
Yesterday, I needed to ask Lisa a work question. I called her from my desk. She picked up. I heard the echo—definitely on speaker. I kept my voice completely normal.
"So Lisa," I said, "just to confirm—you said last week that the Johnson account is a lost cause and you hate dealing with them, right?"
Silence.
She scrambled. "What? No—I never—"
"Oh wait," I continued, "and you also said the new intern has 'zero potential' and you don't want to waste time on him. Is that still your opinion?"
More silence. Then a click. She took me off speaker.
She came to my desk 5 minutes later, hissing: "Are you insane? Everyone heard that!"
I smiled. "Now you know how I feel every time you put me on speaker without asking."
She hasn't put me on speaker since.