Clown, Office—How to Temper

Q. How do we handle a co-worker who always has to be “The Life of the Party” and clown around all the time? Sometimes he’s helpful in reducing our stress, but most of the time, he just keeps us off track in discussions. —Zach B.

A. Trying to tone down the office Clown is sometimes like trying to catch the greased pig at the County Fair. They’re lively, often funny, and always “on stage.” But they do tend to stay out of focus. And they sometimes have a good audience that enjoys their antics.

The Clown often disrupts progress of work by telling jokes, making fun of some problem in the company. Office comedians (or comediennes) can’t be serious about anything.

They can’t seem to know when it’s time to be serious and time to be funny. To those trying to get work done, they project immaturity, insincerity and incompetence. And, bottom-line, they usually create more tension than relief, because meetings and problem-solving discussions often take longer than they should. Unless you deal with this person firmly, you’ll get more of the same, because he or she takes your silence that you like the performance.

While office Clowns appear on the surface to have their act together, they usually

have a poor self-image, and are trying to cover it up with humor. They often lack hard data or information to solve the problem, and cover their insecurity up by showing off.

Think about the behavior of a child show-off, and you have a mirror image of the office Clown—several years later. As with the child, the Clown has little self-confidence and constantly need the approval of other people.

Discourage the Clown

What seems to work best is to respond negatively or totally ignore him/her and

respond positively with praise when you see appropriate behavior. Try this: “Bob, you have a great sense of humor. Right now, though, it’s time to be serious and focus only on the problem we have to solve under a tight deadline. Do you have a solution?” If he or she changes character and starts contributing ideas, be quick to respond: “Marlene, that’s an excellent thought. Let’s take it further…”

What if the Clown is the boss? Same problem, but your approach has to be more subtle.

Try diverting his or her attention when they come by and start "clowning around." It’s a good bet that this kind of boss craves attention and wants you to like him, so use that as your tool to deal with him. Have a project or report set aside or ready that you can discuss with him/her when this occurs. Don’t interrupt his “act” unless it’s dragging on. When he gets to a natural pause, say something like, “You’ve got a great way of looking at things. Marion, we have a serious problem I need your help with. Here’s the situation…” and get right into the specifics. If she makes a joke out of your summary, outline the consequences if the problem isn’t handled seriously.

Talk Face-To-Face

If these techniques don’t work, you may have to talk to the Clown privately and tell him/her the truth that his or her behavior is distracting and often causes decreased productivity. You may also want to let him/her know up front, when he or she stops by, if this is a good time or not for casual joking or talking.

The final step, if these tactics don’t work, is to ask for a behavior change. Help the Clown to

recognize behavior that is inappropriate and how it negatively affects the workplace.

Be specific about how you want them to change: “Tom, we need to talk. When you come to our office you often start telling jokes—and they’re usually pretty funny. But pretty soon most of the office is listening to you. This goes on for quite a while, sometimes three to four times a week. As much as everyone enjoys this, our productivity has really decreased. In order to meet our deadlines, we’re often working overtime. We need to limit these "fun" sessions so we can get our work done on time. Will you help me by cutting down on the amount of time you spend telling jokes to the people in this office?”

One final way to deal with the Clown is to redirect the conversation to the task at hand and ask for specifics. “That’s funny, Mike. Right now we’re struggling with a scrap problem on line three that’s driving us crazy. What do you know about it, and can you help us out?”

If he persists (“Help you out? That’s like the guy who went into the liquor store and…”)

Immediately interrupt and refocus: “Mike, right we need to focus only on the problem.

Do you have a solution?”