It took a long damned while, but eventually he stopped doing some of the more annoying things (hello speakerphone!?) automatically because he knew we were going to ask him to stop. He never became coworker of the year, but it definitely got more bearable with time and consistent effort.
Speakerphone. That is unbelievable. Wow.
OP, I'm sorry. I've been pretty irritated at my coworker who lets out Barney-Gumble-worthy belches several times per day (seriously WTF), but at least that's intermittent. I guess I agree with the other suggestions, but it sucks that you have to be the bad guy. Good luck.
My manager chews with his mouth open. If I was able to ban him from eating certain foods, I have mentally banned him from: bananas, pudding/yogurt, gum, anything that gets easily caught in your teeth. He is the poster-boy for the phrase, "you chew like a cow". I have never in my life seen or heard anyone eat as obnoxiously as he does. At first I thought I was just nit picking, but every single co-worker has made a comment about his manners.
The manager also belches constantly (originally, I thought they may have a disorder that causes frequent belching, but then I noticed how often they chew with their mouth open; he's just eating air). He burps so much and says "excuse me" after almost everyone so much that it makes me wonder, "why bother saying it anymore". It just loses it's meaning.
A few male co-workers claimed he use to also pass gas, but that seemed to stop when he finally had a female co-worker (me). Oh... and when he sneezes... dear god. His office is upstairs, and even with all the doors closed, I can still hear it downstairs in my office as if he's sitting right next to me.
I work at client locations w/ my manager and a few others. We almost always are in the same room in very close proximity. It was so annoying at one point that I would get up and pretend like I had business to attend to in another part of the client's building. I would save all the papers I needed to copy and all of my questions for the moment he went to lunch (we eat at the same spot we work at because many clients don't have a normal lunch area).
I then noticed this manager would eat like a normal and respectable human being every time we ate with the client. So now I believe he is capable of not being obnoxious. It won't be long before my co-worker and I finally start pointing out his behavior. I've tried my best to leave him alone about his poor manners because I don't want him getting defensive where he rattles off a long list of things that irritate him or others about me (I'm sure I could think of a few, but they revolve around my attitude and not manners).
Oh and I have talked to the owner and the owner's wife about the obnoxious and irritating traits of this person. They don't seem to care to address the issue since they don't directly work near him ever.
