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*Career Tips and Advice

The Importance of Etiquette to your Success

As more and more businesses use an open floor plan by installing temporary walls to create cubicles, it is becoming increasingly common for employees to work within close quarters of each other. The need for office and work etiquette increases similarly.

In the view of author Jennifer Daugherty, a business development coordinator, the key word for cubicle-bound employees is empathy. Writing for biznik.com (Seattle version) in August 2011, Ms. Daugherty believes workers must adopt employee behaviour standards that begin by feeling empathy for their peers, working under the same conditions.

While empathy has many worthy definitions, in its simplest form it equals treating others in a manner you want them to treat you. By understanding their feelings, thoughts and workplace attitudes, you learn to exercise empathy as a strong component of your work etiquette.

Deliberate office etiquette has become an intrinsic element to team and co-worker success. Avoiding workplace discord helps teams and crowded employees perform better and become more satisfied with their jobs, even if they are not fans of cubicles.

Embracing empathy and practicing considerate employee behaviour is neither difficult nor problematic. In most situations, it only requires you to be polite, helpful and display some basic manners. Here are some suggestions from Ms. Daugherty that are simple and effective.

Get to the workplace and all scheduled meetings on time. Much as many people become angry when standing in a slow moving line or waiting for a doctor to see them an hour after their appointment, being consistently late is equally disrespectful of your co-workers’ time. The only thing more damaging to team harmony is arriving late and then leaving early.

Always maintain a professional appearance. Certainly, many company dress codes have changed in the past decade. But remember that you still represent your employer. It is just as important to impress your peers as to impress upon management and visitors that you are highly professional and a top performer.

Go easy on the perfume and after shave. Do not equate working in close quarters to a night on the town. There are many otherwise wonderful fragrances that generate allergic reactions in many people. Even those with sensitive senses of smell may be annoyed or distracted in neighbouring cubicles.

Show everyone respect and display your winning smile. Simple displays of respect, friendliness and smiles can accomplish wonders at the workplace. You will notice a change in other employer behaviour as you “infect” co-workers with your empathy and enthusiasm.

Use your manners or practice new ones if appropriate. Simple no-no’s like constantly interrupting someone, not knocking before entering an office or forgetting your “please” and “thank you” responses can do more damage than you might imagine. Using basic manners may make a much stronger positive impression than you realize.

Practice your indoor voice. In the close quarters of cubicle-land, loud voices can disturb all co-workers in the vicinity. Should your neighbour be on the phone, loud voices can become more than simple annoyances. Missed information or customer frustration often results.

If possible, avoid eating at your desk. Open floor plans and modern HVAC systems circulate air efficiently—possibly, too efficiently if you are particularly gastronomically adventurous at lunch. There is little need to cover your work area with crumbs or advertise to your co-workers the pungency of your midday meal. Even after you earn that coveted private office, you should consider work etiquette for your visitors. Also, be sure not to trash the lunchroom or leave UFOs (unidentified food objects) in the company refrigerator.

NEVER participate in gossip about or verbalize open criticism of your peers. This terrible habit (that’s really all it is), if left unchecked, can become a career killer at your current and future employers. In all situations, senior management strongly frowns on gossip—whether true or not—as acceptable employee behaviour. Believing your supervisors and upper management will not learn of this anti-work etiquette activity will eventually become an exercise in futility. They will find out and be highly displeased.

Accept responsibility for your errors. Humans are not perfect; they eventually make mistakes. Deflecting liability for your error on to the resumé of another is a graphic example of poor office etiquette. Beyond this unacceptable employee behaviour, should management learn the error was yours alone, you may not get that respect or promotion you want so badly.

Respect the privacy of your peers. This is another cornerstone of professional office etiquette. You and your team are already functioning in a public setting, with little real privacy. Listening to your peers’ phone calls or constantly looking over their shoulder makes a tenuous work situation only worse.

Workplace etiquette is always important to efficient operations, high performing employees and your personal career advancement options. The many companies featuring open space designs have made it more challenging, but you can rise above the masses and practice empathy for all your co-workers. And you will all benefit!

This article is, in part, sourced from:
http://biznik.com/articles/office-etiquette-for-every-employee

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