Office Etiquette

Be friendly to new employees

Take the time to introduce yourself to new employees and explain what your role is. Make sure they know the areas you may be able to assist them in their new role. If they are on your team, ask them to go out to lunch. Be a friendly face on their scary first day.

Cleanliness is next to Godliness

Arrange your chairs before you go away, tuck them into the table, and lower them if they can't be tucked because you've adjusted the height. Keep the desk clean and arranged at all times. Ask the housekeeping to wipe off or do it yourself if you see dirt. Don't eat at your workstation.

Turn off your PC, before you leave

Turn off the PC, arrange the charging or other cables connected, and do it every time before you leave. This is easily the one thing that takes less than a minute but goes a long way in your contribution to not wasting the resources you have.

Watch your body language

Everyone has bad mornings, and sometimes they follow you into the office. Be aware of your body language even when you aren’t saying anything. If you feel angry or frustrated, give yourself a 10-minute “time-out” in a private space to bring yourself back to neutral. You don’t want to give the wrong impression during a morning meeting or during your performance reviews. Office etiquette requires professionalism even on your worst day.

Don’t be late

Whether it is arriving for work or to a meeting, being punctual actually means being five minutes early. Showing up late is simply disrespectful. It delivers the message to your coworkers that their time isn’t as important as yours.

Minimize the jargon

It is nearly impossible to escape corporate jargon, but it doesn’t mean you need to use it all the time. The key is to make yourself understood in a clear concise way. Most of the time jargon is far too vague, and you become impossible to understand. Tone it down and focus on good communication.

Dress appropriately

Dexciss has a dress code, and it is "Appropriate for office"; make sure that what you wear is appropriate to that code. Whether you are a fancy rockstar, or it’s casual Friday, just dress appropriately to the office. If you are unsure of the company’s dress code, ask HR.

If you're sick stay home

Do your team a favor and don’t share your pneumonia germs with everyone. Take a day or 2, and focus on getting better. You’re no good to anyone when you are too sick to read the numbers on your computer screen. Don’t forget to sanitize your desk when you get back to work.

Knock before you enter

Knock on any office door before you go in. It is a way to tell someone you are there before you start speaking. The same goes when you visit coworkers in their workstations. Even though their space doesn’t have a traditional door, you can do a virtual knock. If they are deep in their work, ask them to come see you when they have a moment – or make time to come back and chat with them.

Turn the music down

Though you may think that classical opera is the best music to help your concentration, your coworkers might not feel the same way. It is fine to have soft music playing in your area as long as the volume won’t interrupt anyone else’s train of thought. Keep the volume turned down to a private level, or wear headphones.

Give meetings all your attention

This means no answering phone calls, texting, or checking your email. If you aren’t giving a meeting your full attention there is a strong possibility you are missing critical details. Even worse is if you’re allowing these distractions to break your focus if you are the one who called the meeting!

Respect everyone’s space

Just because another coworker's desk is within reach doesn’t mean it's a common space – treat it like a private office. Don’t just take things, instead ask before borrowing anything. Alternatively, get your supplies. Remember to give it back.

Respect other people’s allergies

Avoid overpowering fragrances or any food your coworkers are allergic to.

Keep social media appropriate

If you are “friends” with coworkers online, know that nothing you post is truly private or confidential. Don’t complain about your boss, company, or coworkers on social media. While it may help with your stress levels, if you take your complaining too far, it could damage your career

Take phone conversations in private rooms

If you have a door, close it when you take a personal call. If you are in an open office, move your conversation to an area that is conducive to having a private conversation. If these aren’t an option, try to keep the call as short as possible or arrange to call the person back.

Keep meetings in conference rooms, not at your desk

Your meeting has nothing to do with anyone else. This is doubly important to remember when you are discussing confidential matters. Keep all your meetings in the calling booths or a cabin, if you have one.

End meetings on time

Just as meetings need to be started on time, they need to end on time as well. Make sure that you leave enough time for any questions before you run out of the time you’ve allocated. You don’t know what everyone has planned for the rest of the day, but it probably isn’t a plan to spend more than an hour in a meeting.

Answer the phone and return them too

Create good customer service standards and answer your phone within 3 rings whenever possible. If for any reason you miss a call, call back as soon as you can. A professional always responds quickly.

Reply to emails or instant messages

Though you may receive ‘spam’ emails occasionally, most of the emails and instant messages you receive are probably important. Try to reply as fast as your work allows – or at least before the end of the day.

Report your task update to the line manager

Whenever a task is assigned to you, always give the progress update to your manager before you leave for the day. Even when the task is not completed, and especially when the task is not completed on time.

Don’t just hit “reply all”

It’s great when an email gets sent to the whole company congratulating a team on the great work they did on a project – but it’s not so great when 100 people hit reply all to chime in. Instead of automatically including everyone in your reply email, only include the people you need to.

Clean up after yourself

The office is not your home, and no one here is going to be cleaning up after you. This means washing your dishes if you have used one in the kitchen, throwing garbage away, and not leaving your items all over the office. Maintain a high level of cleanliness in communal spaces.

Mute your cellphone and computer

Somehow email notifications at high volume sound like nuclear warning alarms in a quiet office. So does your Crazy Frog ringtone. Do everyone a favor and turn them off completely.

Etiquette is becoming more gender neutral

Office etiquette is becoming more gender-neutral when it comes to opening doors and getting on and off elevators. What matters the most is common courtesy, and showing respect to people who you work with.