Work Etiquette Thread

[JJChicken]

Anyone have any good advice on how to be a model employee?

I'll start off with my own experiences. When I was doing my internship last year, I always used to go my senior manager for every little doubt I had (as everyone says "ask questions, ask questions"). At first he was quite helpful, but later he started to get a bit peeved by it. He subtlely tried to get me to ask other people lower down on the ladder, by assigning me a mentor/buddy but I didn't read his signals until a week or two later. I guess it was pretty bad on my part to keep bugging him considering how busy he would be and its something I've learnt not to do in the future. These days I spend extra time on the problem before going off to asking others, and when asking others I won't be bugging the higher-ups.

 

[AreaCode7O7]

Accurate status reports. You never get anywhere by making something sound better than it is; you just delay the disappointment and make yourself look untrustworthy.

Work your tail off. Extra hours, odd hours, tons of effort. Work at a level or two over how you are paid and you're more likely to hit that level.

 

[jinduy]

Originally posted by: AreaCode707
Accurate status reports. You never get anywhere by making something sound better than it is; you just delay the disappointment and make yourself look untrustworthy.

Work your tail off. Extra hours, odd hours, tons of effort. Work at a level or two over how you are paid and you're more likely to hit that level.

i agree, but occasionally this fails and then you look for a new job with a nice bump in pay

 

[mcmilljb]

Don't pee on the toilet seat.
Don't smell bad.
Have a neat appearance.
Show up early.

 

[Dr. Detroit]

Take ownership of your assigned tasks, from planning to completion.

Dress well but do not overdress your management. No need to wear a suit when everyone is wearing slacks and a drss shirt.

No cologne or perfume

At company events do not get hammered

Do not date within the company

Ensure you match your belt to your shoes - don't dress like a slob - shine your shoes

If you finish your assignments early ask your boss for more work but don't be an asskisser

No need to stay late but on Fridays - yes, work late on Fridays - everyone else leaves early so the bosses notice.

 

[Orsorum]

My thoughts echo Areacode707 and Fmr12B.

 

[MotF Bane]

There's nobody higher up than your next job. If they don't like your clothing styling, fire them.

 

[JMapleton]

I often wear a t-shirt that says, "If you fire me, I will become more powerful than you could possibly imagine."

That seems to do the job.

 

[Vic]

Pick your battles carefully.

 

[dmw16]

The trick is knowing when to ask questions. You dont want to give up too early, but you also dont want to wait too long and just waste time. You'll figure it out.

ALso, some other good advice in this thread.

 

[Goosemaster]

Originally posted by: Vic
Pick your battles carefully.

Oh my how true this is

As for "managerial review" sessions, try to document as many questions/issues and how you addressed/bookmarked them as much as possible as long as the issue isn't critical; then submit a detailed report.

When writing security policy this issue arose every 5min (wording is critical) and I did my best to keep on working and created a report of my questions for my supervising manager. Obviously this is not always possible but try to keep the bugging to a minimum. Utilize tools such a versioning and detailed change reports to show that you are taking charge of the task at hand and not simply having your boss do your work bit by bit.

 

[mugs]

Don't touch my monitor. :|
Don't chew in my office. Food OR gum. Drinking is OK as long as you don't slurp.
Don't chew in the hallway on your way back to your office from the kitchen. You can wait 10 seconds!
Don't chew in the kitchen so loudly that I can hear you in my office around two corners and 20 feet away. I kid you not, there were 3 people at my old company like this! I can't say I was disappointed when one of them got laid off.

I think the general theme is don't be disgusting.

 

[vital]

Read Sun Tzu's Art of War and you will survive and be on top of any work environment.

 

[Whoozyerdaddy]

Don't forget the cover sheet on your TPS report.

 

[Mo0o]

Aren't most of these pretty logical behavior in any human interaction

 

[JJChicken]

Originally posted by: Whoozyerdaddy
Don't forget the cover sheet on your TPS report.

whats tps?

 

[Whoozyerdaddy]

Originally posted by: Barack Obama

Originally posted by: Whoozyerdaddy
Don't forget the cover sheet on your TPS report.

whats tps?

*face/palm*

 

[JJChicken]

Originally posted by: Whoozyerdaddy

Originally posted by: Barack Obama

Originally posted by: Whoozyerdaddy
Don't forget the cover sheet on your TPS report.

whats tps?

*face/palm*

sorry clueless here...and I didn't get what you wrote before the edit either?

 

[Whoozyerdaddy]

Originally posted by: Barack Obama

Originally posted by: Whoozyerdaddy

Originally posted by: Barack Obama

Originally posted by: Whoozyerdaddy
Don't forget the cover sheet on your TPS report.

whats tps?

*face/palm*

sorry clueless here...and I didn't get what you wrote before the edit either?

I had to check... I just realized that my obscure (not really) reference is ten years old now. So if you're 12 I can't really blame you for having it fly right over your head.

How old are you? Were you born in this country? Do you have the birth cert to prove it?

 

[Dr. Detroit]

Do not burn the popcorn!

Do not bring smelly asian food and microwave it and creat a foul stench cloud that engulfs the entire office. Do not microwave carp, trout, or any other fish!

Do not "reply to all" in emails. No one cares!

Do not sell your extra season tickets by emailing "all"

Look people in the eyes when you cross them in the hallways and say "hi, hey or hello" - do not stare at your feet and creep everyone else the f out because we always think the unsociable ones are the next unabomber.

Before you start work make your FaceSpace accounts private and get rid of the drunken half naked girls in your profile. Yes, all your cowrokers will look you up and then talk shit behind your back.

Do not give you FaceSpace account out to your clients if you happen to work in client service.

For Halloween, do not dress up in that really cool Pimp costume.

Do join the Company softball team - do not scream at the ref or your fat/lazy coworkers.

 

[JJChicken]

Originally posted by: Whoozyerdaddy

Originally posted by: Barack Obama

Originally posted by: Whoozyerdaddy

Originally posted by: Barack Obama

Originally posted by: Whoozyerdaddy
Don't forget the cover sheet on your TPS report.

whats tps?

*face/palm*

sorry clueless here...and I didn't get what you wrote before the edit either?

I had to check... I just realized that my obscure (not really) reference is ten years old now. So if you're 12 I can't really blame you for having it fly right over your head.

How old are you? Were you born in this country? Do you have the birth cert to prove it?

sshhhh I'm trying to keep it on the downlow.

But in all seriousness, I am not from America so I wasn't able to get your reference.

 

[Perknose]

Originally posted by: Barack Obama
But in all seriousness, I am not from America so I wasn't able to get your reference.

Born in Kenya, I KNEW it! :shocked:

 

[jlee]

Originally posted by: Perknose

Originally posted by: Barack Obama
But in all seriousness, I am not from America so I wasn't able to get your reference.

Born in Kenya, I KNEW it! :shocked:

:beer:

 

[eplebnista]

thread.

 

[JJChicken]

anyone got any more etiquette advice?