ANNOYING Habit at work....what Would You Do?

Sorry, I have no answer for you because I work in a small office with an older GROUCHY man that chews gum (whole pack at a time) like a cow and crunches on ice ALL DAY LONG. I've worked with him for 17 years and it still makes me crazy!!! He also does not mind belching or passing gas out loud.

See, if it were me, I'd come up with an annoying tick, like calling out nicknames for each person you hear (Needs A Breathmint, Shouldn't Wear Red, Terrible Handwriting, Never Holds the Elevator etc), or start coughing every time she'd do that, or hoot like an owl or rattle my paper clip holder or even laugh out loud. Just somethign to take the edge off!

Oh boy. I feel for you. For five years, I sat next to a lady WHO SPOKE AT THE TOP OF HER LUNGS THAT THE DEPARTMENT ACROSS THE ROOM HEARD HER!

I was a journalist and had to "compete" for interview airspace. I usually left the room to write, etc.'

I would suggest asking for a seat change. Can you go above you to do this or have HR talk to her? Does she have some sort of disability that make be behind this?

Good luck. You have my empathy!

The fact that she has to re-read her emails repeatedly is rather scary. I am a big proponent of proof-reading, but I can do it with my lips shut. And I usually only need one quick pass over an e-mail before hitting send.
Has she always been like this? If this is new behavior I would be concerned that something is slipping mentally. Concerned enough to say something to H/R (especially coupled with her moodiness.) If this is nothing new, I’d be inclined to wonder how she became a manager. Is anyone on good terms with her boss that would feel comfortable asking him/her about this particular habit (in a light-hearted manner of course)?
As a person who supervise several managers, I would want to know if one of my staff was acting in such a nutty fashion.
As far as other workplace habits that drive me up the wall, I could go on all day. But chronic pen-clickers and people with long fake nails who click click click on their keyboard make me very thankful I have a door to shut. (p.s. I will NEVER hire another person who shows up wearing fake nails. GOD they drive me NUTS.)

Alot of us use earbud headphones to play music and drown out the background stuff.

WOW that is bizarre! Is it acceptable where you work to discreetly have earbuds in to tune her out? For a long time that was frowned upon in my office but over the past year or so it's become more and more common. I'm guessing that others would sympathize with you. Sometimes I also like the conversational flow and collaboration of being able to just quietly toss out someone's name to get their attention and quickly work on something together, but it sounds like isolating yourself with some earbuds might be worth that trade-off.

Honestly your boss sounds a little...um...quirky. If you ever have the chance to give anonymous feedback via a 360 review I would definitely mention this. If your HR department is good at coaching and feedback, it might be worth mentioning to them as well, especially if others in your department are also distracted by her. Perhaps she could be moved away from the team, or to a cube with higher walls? A few years ago, there was a total a-hole near us who screamed on the phone all day long. We ganged up on management and HR and had him moved to another spot with more privacy. It looked like he scored a better cube (higher walls = higher status here) but everyone knew it was because he was annoying.

Why would ANYONE want to sit that close to the boss anyway? Move cubicles.

Can you wear some headphones and listen to music while you work? High enough to muffle her voice but still low enough to hear the phone ring?

Wow, you're missing the big issue here as you focus on this tiny (but yes, INTENSELY annoying) issue.

Big issue: "The woman is so moody and bitchy a lot of the time that it's like walking on eggshells around her." And you are "afraid of what I might get" if you speak up. Your own words, and very telling.

If you're afraid to discuss this with her and are already on eggshells at work, frankly, she's a toxic boss, or at least a pain of a boss. She would have to be a complete goddess in other ways to make this tolerable. I'd bet there are other issues with her that you're not mentioning here, since you're focused on the e-mail problem. But step back from that one thing and look at the big picture. I'd be looking for a transfer to another office if there's any way to do it, or for another job.

It totally rots to work for someone who keeps employees on edge and who is bitchy all the time. Get out. If you're saying to yourself, I can't get out -- at least start trying, now. If you put off looking, you'll end up working for her ever longer; why not at least start to hunt?

There is more than e-mail etiquette at stake here; do you really want to work for this boss even if she DOES clean up her act about the e-mail and stop doing it out loud?

This is why God invented earphones and iTunes. :)

I would say bring in an ipod and listen to music wearing headphones. I work in a cubicle area and realized that people can hear your conversations. I have a noisy person in my area and I really don't like my Supervisor to much. I say in my head to myself to shut up and thats so annoying. Then I remind myself that I am not perfect and have annoying habits. I sometimes have to talk out loud to get through a problem but not too loud so it won't bother other people. Not only that, I am tired of all the office "politics" so I've learned to just sit there and do my work, keep my mouth shut and will on occasion go have conversations with people. Its working so far for me but you should maybe have a vent buddy but be careful because things do get spread.

Also, she is your boss so you can't really say much to her. I on occasion when I get overwhelmed snap at my boss. I am working on that too.

Put some ear buds in and listen to peaceful music. It will help your brain work better and it will drown out her voice.

Otherwise it seems this system is really not a good fit for you. When you have open cubicles like this it is never quiet or calm. There are always fragrances, sounds, noises, gossip, etc...going on and you will hear every word.

Ask the boss above her to move you. If you have to explain tell them she is louder than you like when she's working.

You mentioned empty spaces around you. Perhaps you could move further away from her.

Also, have you tried joking around with her? Complain by telling her a joke about what you're hearing. If you're not having casual conversations with her, it might be time to start. I found that having a superficial but yet somewhat personal relationship with my supervisors helpful for just such times. That way I can mention something that concerns me in the midst of other not so serious conversation. "BTW, do you know that I can hear every word you say when you're sending an e-mail? I know I'm getting one before you even hit send." No need to say it bothers you. If she's adept at all in relationships she'll know and do something about it.

Can you wear headphones? Or can you turn on music quietly or have some sort of white noise generator?

The part that would concern me would be being privy to emails that have nothing to do with me. We had a senior manager I called the Yelling Man. With his door CLOSED you could clearly hear him across the hall into my office berating people on a regular basis. By that point I just wanted to keep my head down til I could get out of dodge but I wish I'd said something to HR about it. (I hear now he's CEO. Scary.).

My old boss cussed people out on her phone. Slammed it down, yelled at people in the office, yelled at me......Sorry but not feeling a lot of pity for talking to herself.

Why on earth would you tell her to stop? She is your boss, there is nothing illegal about what she is doing.

I like the suggestions of listening to music.

I'd fart and blow it her way. Childish, but hey- don't get mad, get even.