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My team is about to move office from an open plan area to shared two-person rooms (old university halls of residence, not ideal). I get on well with everyone in the team except one person and I know they'll drive me mad if we end up sharing a room; they're unproductive, lazy and very annoying. That aside the question is...
How can I diplomatically phrase to my boss that I don't want to be sharing a room with that person when we move?
I agree with Oded's answer and would like to add one important step. If you tell your boss "I would like to share a room with Agnes, Bill or Charlie because ...", his/her immediate reply may easily be "OK, but would they like to share a room with you?" It may also turn out that (s)he has different room setup in mind, and/or that some of the aforementioned has already discussed the topic with your boss before you...
So you may optimize your chances by discussing the issue with your favourite teammates already before turning to your boss. This way you can ensure that you only mention names who haven't yet committed themselves and specifically agree to share a room with you.
You might even be able to allocate the whole team this way, in a way that is acceptable to everyone involved, which would further strengthen your case. Of course, this would only work with a boss who is not a control freak :-)
You can phrase it positively in terms of who you do want to share with.
Ask you boss if you can be assigned the same room with some of the people you do want to work with. Give a few different names so the boss has a choice between people you do want to share with.
If you can add a good business reason for any of these persons (different skill sets, mentoring and knowledge exchange are good reasons), the likelier is a positive outcome for you.
Depends on whether you actually want to put in any effort to tolerating the person. Like oded said, you could simply ask anyone of your buddies upfront if they'd be ok if you paired up there and then and take that pairing to your boss
I'd really like to work in the same space as this person and he's cool with it too. Can we get a room?
On the other hand, you might want to think long term. You won't always have the luxury of picking with whom you're stuck. If there's any possibility of giving this person another shot/opening channels of dialogue, I'd advise it.
I think you have to put yourself in your boss's position here. They may be aware of tensions around this person. They may have already decided that you would not be able to handle it as well as others. They may have decided the opposite, that you, above anyone, would survive the situation.
But, whatever their thoughts, you are putting them on the spot by raising the issue. You are essentially telling them how to do your job. You are also telling your boss that you're willing to throw your teammates under a bus to get your own way. No matter how you see it, that's how your boss will see it.
If your boss is unaware of any tension, you might get away with putting a positive spin on this, as others have suggested. But you are going to need to get a colleague onside and to do so (particularly if you try to work on two of them) might create a Prisoner's Dilemma for them.
And, if your boss is aware, and is undecided as to who they're putting in the room with this person, they will see through any positive spin you put on it and will know that you're working in your own interests, against your teammates'. You may be flagging yourself as the most expendable person on the team by showing yourself to be untrustworthy.
Personally, I would wait and see. This might not be an issue that needs dealing with. And, if it does, then I would suggest waiting until there is a problem and then raising it directly, with evidence.
How you want to manage this depends largely on your boss, as well as your role.
I'd suggest that it is very hard to raise this with a manager without it coming across as sounding unprofessional, or as if you want to have special treatment - mainly because you have only given personal and not professional reasons for your preference.
A good manager would know the team personality types, working styles and functional relationships, and would act accordingly. By preempting this, before a floor plan is displayed for comment, it could be taken by the manager as a challenge to their decision making or leadership.
However, if this is a stay/go choice for you, then I would suggest that finding positive professional reasons why you need to share with someone else is the best outcome. This could include the need to strengthen a particular functional relationship in the team, linked job functions or a training/mentoring opportunity. Essentially you need to create a win-win for your manager, where having you share with person XX will significantly improve the business.
Any other approach is likely to get a "well, its not ideal, and no-one is happy about it, least of all me. But, could you please give this a try it for 3 months and we'll review" response.
Thinking error #1: you're going to be paired with this person
Reality #1: You haven't been assigned rooms yet, so right now you're negative goal-setting, i.e., concentrating on the goal you don't want instead of the goal you do want.
Thinking error #2: "I know they'll drive me mad if we end up sharing a room"
Reality #2: You don't have control over most things in your life, except how you react to them. It is certainly possible for you to not be driven mad by this person, isn't it?
Consider this a lesson the universe is giving you the opportunity to practice: how to have a professional relationship with someone with whom you have negative impressions/interactions. Believe me, you WILL end up working with people who rub you the wrong way throughout your career. Are you going to get worked up with each of them every time?
Note also, this: "they're unproductive, lazy"
That is your perception and not necessarily reality. The fact is that most perceptions are wrong most of the time because we aren't seeing the whole picture. We can't see in this person's head. We don't know what they do when they're out of our eyesight. We don't know how they interact with the boss (unless we were in the room, listening to their conversations and reading the emails over this person's shoulder).
Here are your choices:
