If you spend time with others on the job, maintaining a positive working relationship can be a key to your professional success as well as the success of the business. It can lead to an overall more rewarding work experience, create lasting relationships, and provide future networking opportunities. In order to make sure that your contributions to the environment are conducive to teamwork, and general harmony, avoid these workplace faux pas.
Keep Your Volume Reasonable
While no one is expected to work completely silently, do be aware of any extraneous or intrusive noise you may be creating. Different people respond to noise in different ways, and some people may find unnecessary sounds incredibly distracting.
In order to promote a more peaceful environment, make an effort to speak softly, ensuring that your voice carries no further than necessary. Use headphones when listening to music, videos, or online presentations. Unless you are working in your own office with a door, avoid speakerphone at all costs.
What’s that Smell?
Whether it is highly aromatic foods, strong colognes or perfumes, or a lovely bouquet, smell is another area that can raise the level of tension in a workplace. Unless you work in a restaurant that serves foods with a strong scent, avoid items like fish or Brussel sprouts. While they may be healthy options, the scent can be quite intrusive to your coworkers.
While food-related smells may be distracting, certain scents can cause a violent reaction to someone who is allergic. For the sake of a healthy work environment, avoid the unnecessary use of scent, such as perfumes and colognes, and avoid items such as flowers and candles that may not sit well with your coworkers.
Be Aware of Personal Space
Even if certain areas do not actually belong to specific individuals, do be aware of how you may be encroaching on others. For example, avoid coming to a coworker’s desk for basic chitchat. Not only may you be preventing them from working, you may also be contributing to the overall level of noise pollution in the area.
In public spaces, remember that other people have as much of a right to the space as you do. Try not to block certain amenities, such as sinks, microwaves, and coffee pots, unless you are currently using them. While we are all occasionally caught up in a conversation, distracting us from the environment around us, do try to remain vigilant.
If You Are Sick, Stay Home
Coming into the office sick is a major faux pas for many reasons. Not only may your symptoms be distracting to others (such as a nagging cough), you are also potentially infecting your coworkers. While you may be concerned about meeting certain deadlines, in most cases, someone would much rather cover for you for one day than lose a week to the flu.
If your current work environment is less than desirable, and you would like help with your job search, contact Advance Staffing Solutions today! Let their 25 years of staffing experience work for you.
