We deserve a break today – be kind to your workmates
April 23 , 2008
For years, scientists have studied the effects of overcrowding by using lab rats. They cram lots of them into too-small spaces, crack a few brewskis and wait to see what happens.
What happens isn’t pretty. The little rodents get all stressed out and pretty soon they start fighting with each other and chewing their own tails and playing too much online Texas Hold ‘Em. OK, I made up that last one, but the fact remains that crowding and a lack of privacy (sound like your office?) produce unwanted effects in rats, and can sometimes do the same things to humans.
Of course, we’re different than lab rats. For one thing, rats occasionally get their cages cleaned. And while overcrowding in the typical office isn’t enough to induce tail-chewing, it is enough to accentuate a neighbor’s little quirks to the point that we want to throw a stapler.
The point of all this is that Cubicle Etiquette Day is right around the corner. To help us cube-dwellers to all get along better with our cage mates … I mean our work mates … here are some ideas on “cubicle etiquette.”
Give your cube mates a sense of control over their space. Knock on cube walls (even if this gesture is only symbolic) before speaking. Ask permission to enter someone's cube – even if it makes you feel like Les Nessman – instead of barging in.
Don't loiter. Your conversations float freely among people who are trying to make phone calls, read, or use company time to polish their resumes.
Realize that odors know no boundaries. Your lunch of garlic-pickled cabbage and kippers may be a delicacy to you but to the guy in the next-door cube, it smells like compost. If you do eat at your desk, take out your trash promptly.
Both men and women should take it easy on the fragrances. Here’s a tip: if you leave a puddle when you stand still, you’ve used too much.
Be aware of what you say and how loudly you say it. Assume everyone within a four-cube radius can hear you. If you need to discuss that painful rash with your doctor, try to find an empty office or private area (and speaking of “private areas,” I really don’t want to hear about your prickly-heat problem).
The flip side to this is to at least pretend that you aren’t privy to every conversation within a 20-foot radius. Just because you can hear it doesn’t mean you need to comment on it. So maybe the guy three cubes away did get ripped off on his new big-screen TV, but he doesn’t need (or want) to hear it from you.
Sure, you love your custom ring tone but there’s a chance your neighbors don’t. You know your cell’s going to ring (that’s why you have it, right?) so keep it handy, answer it quickly and spare your neighbors having to listen to “Sweet Home Alabama” – again.
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