6 Suggestions for Productive Office Behavior

Just plain old common-sense guidelines and good practices for productive office etiquette.

by Lester Salvatierra

1) “Put details in an email…”, exactly what it means, don’t ramble specific details to a co-worker; express strategies and opinions in person but other stuff should be put in an email for future reference.

2) When speaking to someone in an office, go all the way inside! Talking from the hallway or in front of other open doors disrupts other workers which are not part of your conversation.

3) When speaking on the phone in an open or semi-open workspace, moderate your volume in consideration of others. If an international call makes you feel you must shout to be better understood, then you don’t understand today’s technology.

4) You have free time and like to visit; we get it. But going from co-worker to co-worker hitting up everyone that looks free disrupts work flow more than you think plus it’s a bad look on you, act busy – even acting busy might make something pop up for you to do.

5) When someone is leaving for the day, it’s a really bad time to ask them to follow up with something which you should have asked them to do earlier in the day. Bite your tongue and wait until tomorrow.

6) “Ten Questions Tom…” If someone runs out for an errand, you don’t need to know who, what, why and where; mind your own business. Office workers become friendly but there is still a line to respect.