Office etiquette. Is that even a thing? Well, there is no special code that lays down the rules to abide by, but there are some issues that may be taken into consideration if we want to keep our workplace employee-friendly, welcoming to everyone – and conflict-free. With that said, here are a couple of guidelines which can make every office work better if followed.
Don’t have personal conversations at your desk
It may be stating the obvious, but this one’s really important – especially in an open-plan office environment. Let’s face it – your colleagues don’t have to know all the details of your private life, plus, loud and lengthy conversations on the phone make it difficult for those around to focus on their job.
Don’t use a phone in an open-plan space
Another of the most fundamental office etiquette rules is that you don’t talk on the phone in the open-plan parts of the workplace. Reason being? Imagine yourself being not the party to a phone call, but an unintentional audience of such a conversation. Sounds quite bothersome, right? If there’s some common space in the workplace, don’t treat it as if it belonged to you and you only. Do not appropriate it. Consider it neutral ground, so to speak.
Don’t hold meetings at places not designated for it
The rules of office etiquette are something quite customary but still necessary for any office to function as it should. Another major thing to take into account in this context is the issue of meetings. Let’s be honest – some parts of the office simply won’t work as places for business meetings. Too much noise, too little privacy, too casual, too formal, too crowded, too unsuitable… there are so many factors that play a role here, so it’s really important to plan ahead and hold your meetings where they belong – depending on their nature, the number of participants, the expected duration, and so on.
Do keep work noises down
Brainstorming sessions and other forms of teamwork can get sometimes out of hand, true. In a dynamic environment, where thoughts and ideas are shared and exchanged at lightning speed, it’s really hard to keep it down. That’s why it’s so important to take those team sessions somewhere where they won’t bother others. And as for individual work, keeping the noise levels down is always a good idea. After all, nobody wants to be bothered, right? Especially when they need to get some work done. To put it in a nutshell, being thoughtful of others is never a bad thing.
Do respect others’ personal space
Apart from noise, there’s also the issue of space. Respecting other people’s boundaries makes you actually a good team player, even if it’s a ‘passive’ game, so to speak. In doing so, you show that other people matter to you and that you’re more collaboration- than competition-oriented, which is definitely a good thing. And by sending such a signal to others, you may expect to receive the same in return. A win-win situation.
There’s no denying that following such an office etiquette can be a challenge, especially when the workplace infrastructure doesn’t help much. Luckily, there are ways to make keeping it classy much easier. By adopting solutions like office pods, such as the hushPhone by Hushoffice, the workplace becomes much more flexible and versatile, catering to the demand for space, silence, and privacy at the same time.