Office etiquette - Cubicle manners, anyone?

The workstation is quickly emerging as a home away from home as you end up spending more time in office than ever before. We tell you how to be a good neighbour in a fishbowl existence.

You're sitting in your cubicle busy working on a client proposal that you need to discuss with your boss in the evening. A cellphone ring interrupts your train of thought. The person in the next cubicle answers the phone in a loud voice forgetting that nearly everything he says can be heard from 10 cubes away. You put on your headphones and turn on some music to block the noise but to no avail. Soon, you feel like banging your head against the wall... Business etiquette expert Shital Kakkar Mehra says, "Skyrocketing commercial real estate costs in Indian metros have resulted in extremely compact workstations, in an open-office format.They save cost and at the same time ease communication due to lack of physical boundaries. But what they lack is privacy. The current office environment at most organisations is extremely noisy with umpteen interruptions during the day that has a negative impact on productivity.

"According to a survey conducted by Justin Mardex, Department of Design and Enviornmental Analysis, Cornell University, among 13,000 office goers, the `ability to do distraction-free solo work' was rated as the most effective workplace attribute. In a national survey conducted by the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID), more than 70 per cent of respondents in open offices indicated that their productivity would improve if their workplace was less noisy, while only 19 per cent of corporate executives in cabins felt the same way, clearly showing that noise is a major pollutant at work.

Indian offices are extremely noisy - cramped work stations, people chatting away with each other, talking loudly on telephones, crunching away without guilt, borrowing things from each other's desks without the colleague's knowlsonal edge, cell phones ringoing incessantly with Bollywood ringtones - the list is endless.

Noise is the leading ulp cause of reduced concentration levels, subsequently reduced productivity, and of ten, increased stress levels.

While changing the workplace set up and design is not always an option, what can you do to make your office environment more productive, comfortable and harmonious? How do you enlighten your bad-mannered co-buddy without of fending himher? We tell you how to exercise a little grace and a lot of good sense.

The unspoken rules of civility at the workplace

RULE #1

A praire dog is cute in the wild, not in office

What is praire dogging? It's when someone stands up and tosses something to a person a few desks or cubes over, pokes his head out of his cubicle to survey the environment and peers over the wall of someone's cubicle. In office, this behaviour is pretty annoying. Even if the walls are low enough to gaze over, go around to the opening and treat it as a doorway. Check if it is a good time to speak to your co-worker instead of simply barging in and blabbering away. If your co-worker is talking to someone else, catch up later.If the matter is urgent, drop a note on hisher desk or send an email or chat message.

RULE #2

Silent zones aren't just for hospitals

No, you aren't expected to whisper, but just speak in a low voice so that you don't disturb people around you. Understand that every individual needs to pay full attention to the task in front of them to perform at their full capacity. Contact your neighbour by walking up to them, sending them an e-mail or calling them on the office landline. Yelling from your desk asking, "Supriya, is the report ready?" is jarring.

RULE#3

Handle your smartphone smartly

Phones are hard to ignore. They connect us to friends and fami ly and are important for work too. Playing Candy Crush at work to unwind may not seem like a bad idea, but go someplace private to disengage.Playing the game at your desk with sounds coming from your phone is unacceptable. Period.Also, you may be a music lover, but that doesn't mean you sing along to your favourite tunes or listen to them on the computer.Use headphones. Moreover, keep your phone on `silent' or `vibrate' mode; you certainly don't want to be a nuisance to your co-workers. Be courteous.

RULE#4

Everything you see isn't public property

Walking into a momentarily vacant cubicle and picking up whatever you want to as if it's your personal property is a strict no-no. Just because the item is lying in the open or the colleague is friendly doesn't mean you can walk away with it.It is invasion of one's privacy.Even if the stapler is owned by the company, you need to ask for it each time you require it. Also, let them know when they can expect to get it back, and return it before time. This way, your colleague will be happy to lend you whatever you may need in the future.

RULE # 5

Wafts from a coworker's desk can be displeasing

Put other people's needs -and nose -ahead of your own. You are busy and want to devote every minute at work to work; but remember, eating at your desk doesn't make you superdedicated. It only indicates that you are incapable of finishing your day's work in the course of an average day. Plus, eating involves crackling of wrappers, food aromas, smacking, chewing, crunching, gulping and lots of other sounds which might make a co-worker hungry, making it difficult for him to concentrate. Also, never invite your office buddy to have lunch with you in your cube and chit-chat for 30 minutes. Go to the office lunch room, maybe find others who are eating and join them.Having a meal together is a great way to fortify office relationships.

Source | Times of India | 20 August 2015