The easiest way to tell a co-worker his breath stinks

October 23, 2008 by
Filed under: Employee computer use, In this week's e-newsletter, Latest News & Views 

Thanks to a new site, giving constructive criticism to a co-worker has never been easier.

NiceCritic is a free service that lets people send anonymous messages to co-workers.

Workers get to pick from several categories — like Personal Hygiene, Appearance and even Anonymous Compliments — and then choose a pre-written message they wish to send

The site’s creator says he came up with the idea after a co-worker told him his nose hairs were embarrassingly unkempt.

The comment choices are relatively friendly. Some samples:

  • Your voice tends to resonate so please consider speaking in a softer tone.
  • Not sharing your candy jar makes you look somewhat unsociable.
  • It looks as if your zipper is down.
  • A breath mint would be beneficial today.

The point is to avoid necessary but awkward face-to-face discussions — which could be beneficial in a lot of workplaces.

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Comments

5 Comments on The easiest way to tell a co-worker his breath stinks

  1. Shelley B on Tue, 28th Oct 2008 3:06 pm

    2. Although this may be the ‘easiest’ avenue to take it is neither correct nor effective. An anonymous message only serves the sender and leaves the recipient feeling isolated and distrustful. These types of uncomfortable situations need to be handled quickly and privately by the appropriate person so the issue is closed and everyone can move forward.

    Allowing employees to anonymously bounce this type of message around the office is time consuming and counter-productive.

    The HR dept or managerial staff needs to just suck it up. Uncomfortable though it may be, it’s a part of the job

  2. Jennifer A. on Tue, 28th Oct 2008 5:22 pm

    3. I concur with Shelly B’s comment. Inevitably, the email recipient is going to end up in HR or will bring it to the manager’s attention anway, who will then have to deal with the situation.

  3. Betty on Wed, 29th Oct 2008 3:17 pm

    4. NiceCritic? This is not nice at all. Actually, it’s quite passive/aggressive. Let HR handle issues like this, that’s what they are for!

  4. Jim R on Wed, 19th Nov 2008 1:36 pm

    5. Shelley B got it right when she said it “only serves the sender and leaves the recipient feeling isolated and distrustful.” The recipient is left with a lingering unanswered question, never knowing which coworker sent the message. How does he/she ever look a coworker in the eye again?

    As manager of a small department, I have been in the position to have this type of conversation. I refuse even to send a discreet email, because there would then be this unspoken silence between us. It is a disservice to the employee to avoid a face-to-face just to spare ourselves a moment of discomfort.

  5. Sarah B. on Thu, 6th Aug 2009 7:09 am

    6. Sounds outright cruel to me.

    If done judiciously, the use of cosmetics could go a long way to enhance one’s professionalism.

    In addition to the points already made above, if one co-worker just has a personal grudge against another, this site could be a great tool to needle him or her with the perfect safety of annonymity.

    Or even if the senders intentions are of the best, some of the available comments could easily be interpretted by a sensitive person.
    “If done judiciously, the use of cosmetics could go a long way to enhance one’s professionalism.” The recipient could take that as “You’re ugly and you need to hide it with make-up.” That might be nowhere near what the sender meant, but they will never know.