You did miss a couple of things, tho:
11) Don't eat other peoples food without their permission.
12) Don't go in other peoples desk drawers looking for stuff.
Both of these happened to me recently.
Grr!
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It's time I stopped cleaning up the lunchroom, and started borrowing money.
You did miss a couple of things, tho:
11) Don't eat other peoples food without their permission.
12) Don't go in other peoples desk drawers looking for stuff.
Both of these happened to me recently. Grr!
You did miss a couple of things, tho:
11) Don't eat other peoples food without their permission.
12) Don't go in other peoples desk drawers looking for stuff.
Both of these happened to me recently.
Grr! 
Please don't start a conversation with me while I'm "sitting" in the bathroom. I'll be out as soon as I can.
gc
gc
Wow, I need to print this our for a certain person in my office.
I swear you guys must be in my office, daily, to get ideas for your pieces. Uncanny.
11. Bathe often and launder your clothes. A cube or office that smells like a locker room (or worse) is something noticed by everyone and acceptable to no one.
12. Control your bodily functions. Passing gas and belching do absolutely nothing but serve to lower others' opinions.
Yep. I guess it's obvious... I've worked with a lot of pigs that like to think they pass as people. But I guess if their intention was to keep me from spending any time in their office or cube... it worked.
12. Control your bodily functions. Passing gas and belching do absolutely nothing but serve to lower others' opinions.
Yep. I guess it's obvious... I've worked with a lot of pigs that like to think they pass as people. But I guess if their intention was to keep me from spending any time in their office or cube... it worked.
In addition to number 11, pay attention to how much perfume/cologne you put on. There are people that I work with that you can smell as soon as they enter the building.
The company where I work has cubes where the walls are just high enough for someone to stand and rest their arms on top... and inevitably, they mess with anything pinned to the board or written on the white boards...
...so respect the cube contents!
...so respect the cube contents!
If you're a female, dress appropriately. Don't wear fish-net stockings, crop tops, black knee-high boots. That dress is great for the pubs and nightclubs not for a professional office environment. And we don't need to know how your breasts move when you're on a treadmill or how you deal with hair removal.
If you're a bloke, the cubicle is not a change room and if you have a company issued t-shirt, take it home and wash it occassionally rather than leaving it on the floor of your cubicle and changing into it when you arrive to work. I never saw that guy take that shirt home to be washed.
If you're a bloke, the cubicle is not a change room and if you have a company issued t-shirt, take it home and wash it occassionally rather than leaving it on the floor of your cubicle and changing into it when you arrive to work. I never saw that guy take that shirt home to be washed.
If your office area has a coffee pot, please make a new pot if you empty it, or come close to emptying it. I wish I had a dollar each time I went to get a cup of coffee only to find that the last person left the last quarter-ounce of sludge carmelizing at the bottom.
If you know how to DRINK the coffee then you should know how to MAKE the coffee! I've actually seen people walk into the break room, see there was no coffee and walk out complaining. It takes about a minute to make a pot of coffee and in this case about 5 minutes until its ready. People can be so lazy.
I got so tired of making coffee all the time that I brought my thermos to the office. Otherwise every time I started a pot I'd get busy doing something and inevitably the pot would be nearly empty by the time I was free to go and get a cup of the coffee that I made. I make a pot for me and put it in my thermos, then another one and leave it for the rest of the folks. Now when I walk by the nearly-empty pot sitting on the burner I don't have to get steamed. I also have a better idea of how much coffee I drank at the end of the day...
I would add to number 12 ("Control your bodily functions"): If your building is so large that you cannot make it to the Men's Room in time, please don't use a corner of someone's lab or an *unoccupied* cubicle! And if you DO make it in time, please use the appliances per the design intent! We are tired of slogging through your smelly mess!
That's it. Just ewww. Using a vacant cubicle? Slogging through... ANYTHING in the restroom? EWWW!
Wasn't going to complain, but knowing others have the same complaints as me feels kinda good!
Here's mine...Stop Talking!!! Co-workers who can't get hint, despite the piles of work on your desk and the fact that you are not even turning around to face them when they are stopped at your cube chattering away. It's great to be proud of your kids/grandkids, but save the endless stories about little Bobby spitting up on you to the lunchroom!
Here's mine...Stop Talking!!! Co-workers who can't get hint, despite the piles of work on your desk and the fact that you are not even turning around to face them when they are stopped at your cube chattering away. It's great to be proud of your kids/grandkids, but save the endless stories about little Bobby spitting up on you to the lunchroom!
My cube also housed the supply cabinets at my last job.
People would come in and look for things and then come
to me if they couldn't find what they wanted. Didn't
matter what I was doing at the time, the assumption was
that I would drop everything to get them whatever.
Even worse were people who came by to get something
on their way to a meeting. They would continue their
conversation while standing in front of my desk.
AARRGGHH!
We had a color printer in the department. People would
print their black and white jobs to it and then forget to
pick them up. Or send it all of their vacation pictures to
print. Both were annoying. I don't care if you have
something non-business related that you want to print
but do us all the favor of doing it at lunch, early in the
morning, or late in the day.
People would come in and look for things and then come
to me if they couldn't find what they wanted. Didn't
matter what I was doing at the time, the assumption was
that I would drop everything to get them whatever.
Even worse were people who came by to get something
on their way to a meeting. They would continue their
conversation while standing in front of my desk.
AARRGGHH!
We had a color printer in the department. People would
print their black and white jobs to it and then forget to
pick them up. Or send it all of their vacation pictures to
print. Both were annoying. I don't care if you have
something non-business related that you want to print
but do us all the favor of doing it at lunch, early in the
morning, or late in the day.
There is someone in our office that could really benefit from reading those. Any advise from any one on how to bring it up?
How about posting it in a public area, with a preface note such as ...
"Wow, would you look at this list from Tech Republic! Can you imagine working in a place where people do this kind of stuff?"
The person who needs the advice will see it and maybe get a clue. Everyone else will get a chuckle and maybe make pointed comments too.
"Wow, would you look at this list from Tech Republic! Can you imagine working in a place where people do this kind of stuff?"
The person who needs the advice will see it and maybe get a clue. Everyone else will get a chuckle and maybe make pointed comments too.
That will irritate some of us. There is a missing etiquette rule 11 - "Do not post up loads of office rules". Best one I've seen was a notice instructing people to change into different shoes when coming into the office and pointing out they should change back into their other ones when they leave it too.
A better approach would be to pass the list to your manager to bring it up at your next team meeting.
A better approach would be to pass the list to your manager to bring it up at your next team meeting.
Hi Tim
You're absolutely right that posting the list as a set of rules could be annoying. It might even deserve a spot on PassiveAgressiveNotes. Real rules, policies, etc need to come from management and be distributed via whatever the official method is.
What I was suggesting is more of a "Hey folks, check this out" posting, to spur conversation and maybe get the intended party thinking on their own.
You're absolutely right that posting the list as a set of rules could be annoying. It might even deserve a spot on PassiveAgressiveNotes. Real rules, policies, etc need to come from management and be distributed via whatever the official method is.
What I was suggesting is more of a "Hey folks, check this out" posting, to spur conversation and maybe get the intended party thinking on their own.
Great idea! For those considerate people, it's probably a good reminder and a tactic I hadn't thought of. I just worry that the real "problem" person will think that it just doesn't apple to him or her.
I think it depends on the issue. If it's something generic--talking too loud for example--I always start out by saying, "You probably don't realize this, but your voice really carries. I'm sure you don't want to disturb people, so I just thought I'd let you know that sometimes we can all hear everything you say. *chuckle*" Any time I can provide a ready-made excuse for the person I'm approaching, it seems to smooth the way considerably.
For really personal stuff, like poor hygiene, you can talk to the person directly (if you have the guts) or leave a note. Either should be very kind and direct. No jokes, no sarcasm. Pick a choose from these suggestions: "Bob, this really difficult for me to bring up, but hey I'm your bud, right? We watch each other's backs, right? Well, I just wanted to let you know that more often than not, you've got some pretty powerful B.O. Enough that most folks can really smell it when they're around you. It really puts people off, and I know you don't want that. I just wanted to help out and let you know."
While humor can often smooth the way, I find that it doesn't work well among co-workers. A supervisor can use it effectively with an employee, but between peers, it's too easy for the offender to just blow off what you're trying to say. If you are kind but direct--they can't miss the point.
For really personal stuff, like poor hygiene, you can talk to the person directly (if you have the guts) or leave a note. Either should be very kind and direct. No jokes, no sarcasm. Pick a choose from these suggestions: "Bob, this really difficult for me to bring up, but hey I'm your bud, right? We watch each other's backs, right? Well, I just wanted to let you know that more often than not, you've got some pretty powerful B.O. Enough that most folks can really smell it when they're around you. It really puts people off, and I know you don't want that. I just wanted to help out and let you know."
While humor can often smooth the way, I find that it doesn't work well among co-workers. A supervisor can use it effectively with an employee, but between peers, it's too easy for the offender to just blow off what you're trying to say. If you are kind but direct--they can't miss the point.
The worst one has to be all those rediculous mobile phone ringtones...why can't people switch them off or set them to meeting / quiet mode?
Meetings:
If you are taking notes on your laptop make sure you demonstrate you are a fully active participant in the meeting - otherwise everyone else will suspect you are surfing the net instead of paying attention
Turn that darn mobile off. Off not silent. If you're worried by being uncontactable first of all seek psychiatric help, but while the therapy is kicking in update your voicemail greeting and then turn the moby off. OK, if it's the end of the quarter and you are expecting a call from an important customer that might make or break the quarterly target then maybe leave it on silent, but tell the meeting chairman so at the start of the meeting, don't just walk out halfway muttering into the moby.
Twenty years ago a big company like BT or IBM might have packed out a meeting to make sure they were never outnumbered, but people shouldn't do that anymore. Don't invite people who have nothing to contribute or who will get nothing out of the meeting just because it makes the meeting seem "important".
Spelling:
Be aware of trans-Atlantic differences. If there is no company standard then etiquette should be that the nationality of the author sets the standard. If British then everything is ****ised, if American it will be ****ized.
If you are taking notes on your laptop make sure you demonstrate you are a fully active participant in the meeting - otherwise everyone else will suspect you are surfing the net instead of paying attention
Turn that darn mobile off. Off not silent. If you're worried by being uncontactable first of all seek psychiatric help, but while the therapy is kicking in update your voicemail greeting and then turn the moby off. OK, if it's the end of the quarter and you are expecting a call from an important customer that might make or break the quarterly target then maybe leave it on silent, but tell the meeting chairman so at the start of the meeting, don't just walk out halfway muttering into the moby.
Twenty years ago a big company like BT or IBM might have packed out a meeting to make sure they were never outnumbered, but people shouldn't do that anymore. Don't invite people who have nothing to contribute or who will get nothing out of the meeting just because it makes the meeting seem "important".
Spelling:
Be aware of trans-Atlantic differences. If there is no company standard then etiquette should be that the nationality of the author sets the standard. If British then everything is ****ised, if American it will be ****ized.
My Gran was British so I learned British alternative spelling.
When posting to the board, I tend to do so in American
English but noticed in a chat with a British friend that I had
automatically switched to British English all the way to
speech form. But that has never happened in a conference
chat with that same friend and another American.
I didn't expect that and was surprised that I did it.
When posting to the board, I tend to do so in American
English but noticed in a chat with a British friend that I had
automatically switched to British English all the way to
speech form. But that has never happened in a conference
chat with that same friend and another American.
I didn't expect that and was surprised that I did it.
I thought this article was very informative. I feel I actually learned something from reading it. I thought the part about lenders being too embarrassed to ask for a small amount of money back was very insightful (and correct). Thank you for taking the time to write this.
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