Work etiquette is all about knowing how to behave when you are in a professional setting with other people. For example, how you behave at home might be completely different than how you behave when you are sharing an office with several other people. At work, it is important to first and foremost be on time. Your boss will not appreciate you showing up to work 10 minutes late every single day, citing that “the traffic was bad...”. After a while, lateness is deemed as laziness which can also translate into irresponsibility, which may even wind up with you being fired somewhere down the line.



Additionally, you may want to check with your boss or supervisor before you start moving your entire refrigerator into your office or cubicle area. In certain work offices, there are designated areas for eating and with good reason. As a quick aside, I went to the gym the other day and was working out on the elliptical machine when suddenly, there was this overwhelming smell of fast food coming from the office area. As I hopped off the elliptical to leave, I noticed that one of the gym staff members was munching on some french fries from a local fast food joint. How ironic was this? Here all of us were in a gym trying to maintain our fitness and we all had to sit there and smell this employee eating fast food. It was a little annoying to say the least. All of this to say that when you are at work, you need to constantly be mindful of other people. Just because you like the smell of fried fish doesn't mean that everyone else in the office will appreciate it. After all, you wouldn't just start smoking a cigarette in your office or cubicle would you?

Another thing that tends to get on other employees nerves is taking a phone call to extremes. Depending on what the policies are for where you work, you may be restricted in the number of personal phone calls that you can make and/or receive (unless of course, they are emergencies). There is nothing more annoying than having to hear another employee talk somewhat loudly on the telephone when you are trying to get your work done. Not only is it distracting, but it is often viewed as being rude. Most phones are cordless. If you can take your conversation elsewhere or at least lower your voice, it would be greatly appreciated. If you are afraid that the other person on the other end of the phone cannot hear you, ask them to turn the volume up on their end or vice versa, this way you won't be forced to shout into the receiver.

The next point that I am about to bring up should be a given, but it is still something that people are struggling with in offices: body odor. The worst culprits of this are smokers. When you smoke, it gets into everything that you touch. I once worked in a small office with several other people, two of whom were smokers. While the female was careful to spray herself down in some sort of neutralizing spray prior to coming back into the office, the male wasn't as considerate. As soon as he walked in, the entire office smelled like a cigarette. I am allergic to cigarette smoke as it makes it difficult for me to breath, and so I did not appreciate it. The other issue is when people overcompensate and bathe themselves in cologne or perfume. If you are afraid that you smell, the best defense is a thorough shower in the morning coupled with some strong underarm deodorant. No one appreciates being inundated with potpourri!