Office Etiquette

My office is located within a "professional" building comprised of dentists, psychologists, lawyers, and others. We are all different in our profession and yet each of us have one thing in common called service. Within this building, we all provide a service to a customer or patient. What does it mean to provide a service to someone? In very simple terms, the action of doing work for someone else for either the exchange of money, barter of goods, or nothing at all...free. Paid or otherwise, my main objective for all my clients is to provide a calm and serene environment to help optimize their wellness. My office door states I am a "Wellness" provider. While I may have my own agenda for a successful outcome during each session, I'm very confident that each client has his or her own expectations during their session with me.

What I have just described is not (or should not) be foreign to my neighbors here in this professional building. They too have an idea how each appointment should proceed. I would wager to say that their clients, like mine, have expectations and goals for their appointments too.

Is it then, unreasonable to expect my neighbors to be mindful of me or my clients and vice versa? After all, our ultimate goals in our careers are similar. Should I be given the right to speak as loudly as I'd like, run down the stairs and jump the last two steps to the front door (even though there are offices located at the bottom of those stairs)? Some tenants might protest: "But I pay my rent. There wasn't anything written into my contract between me and my landlord as to the volume of my or my staff's voice(s), nothing written about not slamming doors or not bringing pets into the office. I have rights!" When you lease or rent a car--is it "yours" to do what you want or is there reasonable expectations of product care and conduct of the lessee by the lessor? If you rent an apartment are there rules and policies the tenants are expected to abide by? What of the unspoken or unwritten rules? Yes, there are rules of etiquette one should be aware of and they may not be in your contract. These rules apply to all public areas (really) whether you rent or lease a dwelling or office, or visit the library. Here are a few unspoken and written rules:

Oops! You're in the Office Now...Not the Playground.

• Unless you're in the music business, chances are the walls are not sound proof. I know this may shock some of you but laughing and cackling is annoying to others. Cubicle walls usually do not extend to the ceiling, which means I see you. Control yourself.
• Look. If you're going to talk behind Sally's back, take it to the bathroom and check the stalls before you regurgitate your gossip all over your coworkers. Seriously, talking behind someone's back is not only ugly, it's cowardly.
• Your coworkers are not your personal maids and servants. Typical to your behavior at home, you let a cup or dish hang out in the sink for days. Not here buddy! If there's no sponge around, either bring in your own or use paper towel and soap. No one at your job should clean your dirty coffee mug out but you.
• Finally, if half your department goes out to lunch, first remember there's a whole other half of your department whom are all eagerly awaiting to leave the building too. Be courteous and on time please.


Renting An Office Is Like Buying A House...KNOW YOUR NEIGHBORS!

Had I known that my neighbors were so utterly rude, I might not have sank 16 grand into this place. Just as you occupy space with strangers and loved ones on this earth, so do you share intimate space (for hours) in an office building.

• When you take a conference call try to use your calm, collected, business voice. No one wants to hear you screaming at the top of your lungs. Not only will you upset the person on the other end of the phone, but you upset your neighbor, and your neighbor's clients. Ahhhh...got you in the purse did I? That's right Mr. Rude, those clients could be creating a dossier on you for their friends. Don't you know word of mouth is your greatest marketing tool? Keep your cool.
• If your file cabinets are up against our shared wall, do not slam them? Shutting drawers, doors, cabinets...that's a part of life... we get it. Slamming, on the other hand, is beyond disturbing and shudders every bone in my body. Slamming adds undo wear and tear to your furniture and mine. The vibrations cause fine cracks in my walls and disturbs my clients (also possibly your potential clients).
• Get to know your neighbors. You don't have to go out to lunch with them, just say hello my name is (fill in the blank). Tell them what you do, how long you've been there and then ask them the same questions. You never know when you might need each other's services, you may know the same people, or perhaps they can introduce you to their friends...it's called networking. Having conversation with people outside your industry is actually quite nice. Try it.

Being a good neighbor is easy, putting up with a bad one is hard work. Bad office neighbors are the worst and may cause undo stress, dis-ease, and may cost you business. I know what you're thinking: "Oh HELL NO!" I hear ya, so nip it in the bud before your neighbor's rudeness grows into an unmanageable and frenzied situation.