One rule of thumb that a lot of union organizers use is something called the 40/60 rule—try to balance the amount of time in your conversations so that whoever you are speaking to is speaking 60% of the time and you at max are taking up 40% of the time. (Unless it’s management, then you can take up as much space as you want!) It’s not a rule as much as a way to be mindful of how much “space” you are taking up in a conversation and how much you allow for others to have their voices heard.

I have to say the #1 turn off that will almost instantly ruin any relationship/friendship/colleague-ship (you know what I mean) is the person who talks so much that you can tell that instead of listening to your, they’re only thinking of what they’ll say next. When you are that kind of person it’s pretty obvious right away. Who wants to be with/work with someone like that?