Office Etiquette

Proper behavior in the office is expected and demanded by companies. The transition between school and an office environment can be one of the most difficult challenges young professionals face. Accepted behaviors in a school setting are often unacceptable in a business environment. To assist in making this difficult adjustment easier Business Savv-E is going to provide information to assure acceptable office behavior. We will talk about these three major office etiquette issues: Office Noise, Office Language, and Respecting Co-workers.

Office Noise

Office noise is a major problem when working for businesses that have open air cubicles. If you are known for or ever been informed you have a strong or loud voice, you will need to pay special attention to your speaking volume. Otherwise, rules to remember include attempting to hold meetings in conference rooms whenever possible and talking on the phone in a low volume level. Abiding by these simply rules will avoid any unnecessary noise and keep your fellow co-workers happy.

Office Language

Using proper language in the office is one of the toughest transitions for most students. Students are typically use to using informal, slang, or inappropriate language. While these forms of language are acceptable around friends, in the business environment use of these types of language can prove to be embarrassing and can make you sound unintelligent. Therefore, we recommend you practice using proper or formal business language so you will not have to try to break a bad habit but rather continue with a good habit.

Respecting Co-workers

The following is a list of tips that should help you improve your office etiquette by being able to work better in a group setting with co-workers. This list is adapted from Tyson Foods, Inc. list of "The Ten Tenants of Dignity and Respect."


· Listen to Co-workers: Stop what you are doing, look at the person who is speaking, and think about what you are going to say before you interact.
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· When working in a group give POSITIVE feedback as well as negative feedback. Let people know how they are doing on their job.
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· While working in a group ask co-workers for his/her suggestions.
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· In a group environment always explain your instructions. Tell co-workers that are assisting you Who, What, Where, When, and Why.
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· Always perform follow ups, do not count on anyone else to do this for you.
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· Treat everyone equally, everyone wants to be treated as equals.
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· Never use profanity - "PLEASE DON'T DO IT" -as mentioned in office language.
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· Never yell at co-workers.

Attitude

Once there was an old and very wise man. Every day he would sit outside a gas station in his rocking chair and wait to greet motorists as they passed through his small town. On this day, his granddaughter knelt down at the foot of his chair and slowly passed the time with him.

As they sat and watched the people come and go, a tall man who surely had to be a tourist -- since they knew everyone in the town -- began looking around as if he were checking out the area for a place to live.
The stranger walked up and asked,"So what kind of town is this that we're in?" The older gentleman slowly turned to the man and replied," Well, what kind of town are you from?" The tourist said,"In the town I'm from everyone is very critical of each other. The neighbours all gossip about everyone, and it's a real negative place to live. I'm sure glad to be leaving. It is not a very cheerful place. " The man in the chair looked at the stranger and said," You know, that's just how this town is."
An hour or so later a family that was also passing through stopped for gas. The car slowly turned in and rolled to a stop in front of where the older gentleman and his granddaughter were sitting. The mother jumped out with two small children and asked where the restrooms were. The man in the chair pointed to a small, bent-up sign that was barely hanging by one nail on the side of the door.
The father stepped out of the car and also asked the man,"Is this town a pretty good place to live?" The man in the chair replied," What about the town you are from? How is it?" The father looked at him and said,"Well, in the town I'm from everyone is very close and always willing to lend their neighbour a helping hand. There's always a hello and thank you everywhere you go. I really hate to leave. I feel almost like we are leaving family. "
The older gentlemen turned to the father and gave him a warm smile."You know, that's a lot like this small town."
Then the family returned to the car, said their thank yous, waved goodbye and drove away. After the family was in the distance, the granddaughter looked up at her grandfather and asked,"Grandpa, how come when the first man came into our town you told him it was a terrible place to live and when the family came in to town you told them it was a wonderful place to live? "
The grandfather lovingly looked down at this granddaughter's wondering blue eyes and said,"No matter where you move, you take your own attitude with you and that's what makes it terrible or wonderful. "

Unleash Your Creativity

Unleash Your Creativity, Think Out Of The Box
People seem to have the misconception that only a select few are able to unleash a steady flow of creative genius. That is not true at all. The fact is, creativity is very much like a muscle that needs to be exercised in order to consistently give out great results. If you don’t practice harnessing creative thinking, this skill will very much atrophy into inexistence. But keep working and this skill will soon come to you in a snap.
So how do you unleash your creative thinking? Well, the first thing is to become a human leech. No, we’re not talking about just sucking the blood out of every living being available, we’re saying that you should take in as much knowledge and learning you can find. Read everything available — good and bad, and keep your mind open to the infinite possibilities of the universe. The more you know, the more you’ll want to know, and the more your faculty of wonder will be exercised. Prepare to be amazed at little facts that add a bit of color into your life.
Focus on a creative activity everyday. Yes, it’s an effort. Even doodling is a creative activity. Don’t let anything hinder you. Mindlessness may be a creative activity, but for people who are just starting out to unleash a little bit of creative thinking in their lives, it is helpful and encouraging to have concrete evidence, that, “hey, what I’m doing is getting somewhere.” So why don’t you try it. Practice drawing for a couple of minutes each day. Bring out your old camera and start snapping photos like crazy. Keep a journal and make a point to write in it religiously. Another cool idea is to write by describing something with your five senses. Try to avoid vague adjectives like “marvelous,” “amazing,” and “delicious.” Before you know it, you’ll have built yourself a tiny portfolio, and you’ll be amazed at the growth you’ve undertaken after amassing all those works of art. Who knows, you might actually take to liking those things you do everyday. Pretty soon those things will become a part of you and you’ll be addicted to these creative exercises.
Think out of the box — or don’t. Sometimes, constraints are actually a good thing. Limitations discipline you to work within your means. It enables you to be more resourceful. Creative freedom is great, but limitations enforce discipline.
Try something new everyday and let your experiences broaden your perspective. Explore a new district in your neighborhood. Spend an afternoon in a museum to which you’ve never been before. Chat up someone on the bus. Open up to the people around you. As you thrust yourself out of your comfort zone more and more each day, your sense of adventure grows and so does your zest for life. Think about it. When was the last time you did something for the first time? If it’s been a while, I tell you, you’ve been missing out on a whole lot of experiences that could’ve added to your growth, emotionally, mentally, physically, or spiritually. Why don’t you try bungee jumping today? Not only will you learn, but you will also have plenty of stories to share, enabling you to practice your storytelling skills and making you the life of the party.
Embrace insanity. No, not to the point of practically admitting yourself into the mental ward. As John Russell once said, “Sanity calms, but madness is more interesting.” Exactly! Every creative thought was once deemed insanity by other “normal” people at one time or another. Luckily, that didn’t stop the creative geniuses from standing by them. The thing is, sanity or being normal confines people to think… well, normally. Withink limits. Creativity is essentially breaking through barriers. Yes, this includes the bizzarre and the downright strange. I’m not saying that you yourself should develop a creative personality. That might go haywire. An example of a creative personality would be George Washington, who often rode into battle naked, or James Joyce, who wrote “Dubliners” with beetle juice for an intense fear of ink, or Albert Einstein, who thought his cat was a spy sent by his rival (or in thinking creatively in this case, the term could probably be “archnemesis.”) It’s important that your creativity doesn’t get you detached from the real world completely.
I hope this article has inspired you to start thinking beyond your “limits.” If you follow these steps pretty soon you’ll be living a life full of interesting adventures. Unleashing your creative thinking will bring about a new zest for living life.