The Basics Of Employee Etiquette
For some people, making the transition from high school or college to full-time work can be something of a challenge. Not only is a lot more expected of you and you will be given much bigger responsibilities, but you will also have to follow some office etiquette standards. Some of these conventions in etiquette will be completely new to you while others will be fairly similar to those that you had to follow back in school or college. Either way, it is really important that you pick up on them as soon as you land in the new office so that you don’t give a bad first impression.
Here are some of the basics when it comes to employee etiquette – make sure you follow these from day one!
Stay At Home If You Are Sick
Even though you may think going into work while you are sick helps you to look dedicated to your job, most employers would rather that you stayed at home and took the time to recover fully before you head into the office. You probably won’t be able to concentrate and focus so well while ill, so you might not be able to carry out your usual tasks to the highest of standards. Not only that, though, but you might pass on your sickness to some of your colleagues, which could result in most of the office being out of action in a couple of days!
Always Share The Credit
If your team do something well and land a huge win on a particular project, you should all share the glory equally. Taking all the credit yourself really isn’t fair on everyone else who you worked with. This is even the case if you did the bulk of the work. I’m sure that you wouldn’t have been able to succeed without the help of everyone else, so it is only right that they get to enjoy some of the credit as well. If you do continually take all the credit and glory for yourself, you could find that the rest of your team start to get fed up with you really quickly.
Put Your Cell Phone Away
Once you start to work in an office, you will find that your to-do list gets very full extremely quickly. And that means that you won’t have much time for using your personal cell phone at all. So, there’s no point it being out where it could easily distract you – it’s best to leave it in a drawer out of sight. Make sure that it is on silent too so that any phone calls or messages don’t disturb the rest of the office.
Don’t Let Meetings Overrun
Your co-workers will be extremely busy, so it’s important that you try and keep your meetings as short as possible. Plus, you need to make sure that they don’t overrun. Otherwise, you could annoy the next group who have booked the meeting room, as they might be left to stand outside and wait for your meeting to wrap up. To try and prevent your meetings going on for too long, you will need to start promptly and stick to the agenda. It’s also important to only call a meeting when strictly necessary. If you can communicate your information just as easily in an email, then it might be best to stick to that rather than disrupt everyone’s working day with a meeting.
Don’t Eat At Your Desk
When it’s time for lunch, you should always use your office’s canteen or cafeteria. If there isn’t either of these in the building, consider going out to a local cafe or buying a takeout sandwich or salad and enjoying it in a nearby park. Generally speaking, it is not good etiquette to eat at your desk, no matter how busy you may be. This is especially the case if you have quite a smelly lunch, such as egg or fish. Your colleagues who work close to you might not be happy about these odors invading their space!
Bow Out In Style
Even though you may have only just joined a company and have no plans to leave just yet, it is still important that you know the right way to resign so that you are prepared when the time arrives. There is a right way and a wrong way when it comes to resigning from a job, and it is always necessary to chose the former. If you don’t, and go about quitting very abruptly or just walking out, you might find that it is incredibly difficult to get a good reference from your employer. That could hinder your job hunt efforts. Plus, it is advisable not to burn bridges as you never know when you might need to turn to a former employer for any additional letters of recommendations.
Be Compassionate
It is always good to be compassionate in the workplace. It can be a very stressful environment, especially when everyone is extremely busy trying to handle lots of different projects at once. However, no matter how stressed out you are, you should never snap or shout at any of your co-workers. Be compassionate and understand that they are under similar strains to you as well. By using your empathy, you will quickly become a well-respected employee.
Be Accountable
As well as being compassionate, you also need to be accountable for all of your actions and behavior. So, if something doesn’t go as expected on a project and you are to blame, you need to hold your hands up and take the fall. If you don’t do this, and simply try to blame others for your own faults, you will find that your workers distrust you and will no longer respect you. You could even end up forfeiting your position in the company!
As you can see, there are lots of things to remember about etiquette in an office environment. Make sure that you always follow these so that you are continually a star employee!