Noise:



Noise is the number one complaint about workers to human resources. Many people think a cubicle is made of magical sound dampening materials, and that the sounds of a radio or talking on the telephone will not be herd outside the cubicle. Let me tell you people this is not the fact. Noise spreads outside a cubicle and can be herd by everyone in the office, including the supervisors and managers. If you are allowed to listen to a radio at work try doing it wearing headphones. Disturbing your co-workers is not the way to make friends and get ahead in the business world.

Office Rumors:

Every day people loose their jobs for talking about other people they work with and spreading rumors. When you work in an office anything you tell someone will eventually come back to you, and if you say something bad about another co worker they will eventually find out that you are the one who said it and if they complain it is called creating a hostile workplace and not only can you get fired but you and the company can get sued for it, even if what you said was the truth. If you hear something, keep it to yourself and you will not have any problems.

Non Company Correspondences:

In the last 15 years it has become common for employees to have access to the internet at each employee's desk. Employees have taken advantage of this to the point that it would be imposable to fire every worker who was caught emailing friends during the work day. This does not mean that you should take advantage of this and spend all day on your personal email. Remember be fair to the company and it will usually be fair to you. Don't expect to get a raise or promotion when you spend several hours at your desk online with non work related things.

Sit at you desk:

It is not uncommon to walk around the office to have a chat with another co-worker, very often you may have to talk to someone about some work this is perfectly acceptable, and to share pleasantries is expected but to spend 10 minutes talking about non work related subjects is a bit much. The more time you spend away from your desk on non business related things the more your boss may start to think how necessary you are to the company.

Eating in the Office:

When I worked in the land of cubicles I had to work while I ate at my desk all the time to make sure everything was done by the deadline, and so did many of my coworkers. Nothing irritated me more then when someone would bring in some hot food that was very aromatic. If it smelled good it was a distraction and if it smelled bad it was even more of a distraction.

Cologne and Perfume:

Work is not a night club. Many of the people you share your office space with may be fine with the smell of your perfume or cologne, but some people do not like the smell and depending how strong the smell is, it can give some people headaches, so whenever possible please do not wear any strong scents to the office.

Pimp my Cubicle:

Many people want their cubicles to reflect their personality, and they will put up pictures and jokes and little knick knacks. The problem with this is that it does not look professional when outsiders visit the office, to have a few pictures on your desk is one thing but to have a small aquarium or collectables on your desk may be a bit much for any office. Before sprucing up your cubicle make sure to run it by the supervisor. You would not want to get a letter from human resources for having inappropriate items on your desk.

Before you do anything in the office always ask yourself if it could in any way bother a fellow worker if the answer is yes then do not so it. No one wants to lose their job over something stupid.