Often knowing the things you should NEVER do at work can be as helpful as knowing what you should be doing. Avoid these faux paus to keep and maintain your stellar reputation at work.
DON’T whine, complain or bitch
We all have our moments of negativity but don’t let it take over your work day. Keep a positive attitude and keep those negative thoughts at bay. While it may feel good to complain to colleagues every now and then, don’t make it a habit. If you find yourself leaving your desk to seek out a colleague for a bitch session… STOP!
DON’T dress inappropriately
Everyone should be able to express themselves at work through their clothing… but appropriately. Gone are the days where women need to dress like men in the workplace in androgynous pant suits. We are free to dress femininely and choose a style that reflects our personality.
Love a big statement necklace? Yes please!
Can’t do without your leopard print? Pick a leopard print flat or pump to go with a more neutral outfit to create that jungle POP! RAWR!
Tired of boring neutral colors? Pick a hot pink blouse to go with some black pants.
Have this low cut top that makes your boobs look amazing? **Danger Danger** Back away from the boobie shirt! General rule of thumb: You shouldn’t ever be hoping to get noticed at work for a body part other than your brain.
DON’T recommend your friends for jobs when you aren’t 100% confident that they will do a GREAT job
If you are thinking about recommending a friend for a job, make sure it is somebody that you are okay if their performance was tied to your performance evaluation every year. If you think your friend might not hold up to the expectations of the job or be anything short of spectacular, don’t recommend them for the job.
Even if the hiring manager doesn’t hire them, if you recommend somebody that they have a poor interview experience with, they are going to wonder why you recommended them in the first place.
Be selective and only if you think somebody would be the perfect fit for the job, recommend them.
DON’T become overly emotional on a regular basis
This one takes on many forms. For instance, I’ve seen colleagues get into screaming matches over the phone at work. Try not to take calls at the office that you know could be emotionally charged. You don’t want your boss or colleagues seeing you angry or reacting poorly when dealing with a bad situation. Step out of the office or save the call for after work if you think it could get heated.
Crying at work follows the same vein. If you feel yourself getting emotional, politely remove yourself so that you can regroup and not let your emotions get away from you.
I’m in no way saying that we should all become emotionless robots at our jobs. But the fact remains that if you become overly emotional at work – it is going to make people feel uncomfortable. Yelling OR crying… it doesn’t really matter which one. People don’t know how to react to heightened emotions and it is unusual enough in a workplace that it will get a lot of attention. Being on the receiving end of negative attention is something you should never do at work.
DON’T gossip about your colleagues
I always try to think about how I would want people to react if they had the opportunity to gossip about me. I hope that they would shut down the conversation and walk the other way. My take is that if you are gossiping about other colleagues, you are opening the door to be gossiped about yourself. If you set an example as somebody who doesn’t tolerate workplace gossip, your colleagues and superiors will respect you for it.
DON’T flirt with or hit on your colleagues
This one is straight forward. Just don’t do it. Not only could you be opening yourself up to sexual harassment claims by being too persistent (you too ladies), flirting at work is in every instance I can think of regarded as unprofessional. There is a time and place for it – which is outside of work!
DON’T create or enable work conspiracies
My guess is that you probably know who this person is at your office. First thing is – don’t be this person. If you can’t think of somebody who fits this description, take a second for reflection to make sure it’s not you. I’ll wait…
Not you? Okay good! They are continuously creating drama where none exists and drawing outrageous conclusions from benign, unrelated decisions made within the company. Nobody takes them seriously and they come off as not having much of a grip on reality.
Secondly, don’t enable this type of talk to occur around you. Standing and listening to them ramble on about an executive level conspiracy at your company is only adding oxygen to the fire by allowing it to continue. Try to throw doubt on their argument and turn the conversation to another topic.
DON’T spend excessive time on social media or surfing the internet
If I walk by your desk a few times a day and each and every time your desktop tells me that you are shopping online or on Facebook … I’m going to start to wonder what you are doing the remaining 98% of your day. Maybe I happen to walk by your desk during the tail end of your lunchbreak each day and sometimes walk by a second time in your day that you sometimes take a quick break. I don’t know that I’m only catching you during your breaks. Unfortunately, because I see the same lack of work each day, I will start to assume that you are not a productive employee.
DON’T drink too much at social work events
It’s always great to unwind with your coworkers and get to know each other on a more personal level outside of work. It’s a morale booster (assuming you work with nice, interesting people) and can serve as a form of team building. Taken to an extreme, it can cause extreme embarrassment and regret to employees.
Again, you don’t want to be at the receiving end of negative attention. Make sure there aren’t any embarrassing stories that your colleagues could be reliving the next day in the break room. Pace yourself, drink a glass of water between drinks and cut yourself off early!
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