If your
work area is a cube, you can likely hear your next-door neighbor
lie to his creditors, tell his wife that he's working late and
close and important deal. Here are a few strategies to help you
survive life in this goldfish bowl:
Speak softly
Be aware that your voice projects. A loud voice working
conditions difficult for your co-workers. Its distracting and
makes concentrating on the task at hand very difficult, and
should they also be engaged in a telephone discussion may very
well overwhelm the voice in their telephone.
Do not use a speaker phone
This would make things even worse, because the person next
door is not only distracted by your voice, but your parties
voice too.
Confidential matters
Do not discuss confidential matters in your cubicle.
Cubicles offer very little privacy, so you should not discuss
confidential matters there. Your board room is an excellent
place to hold meetings where confidential information will be
exchanged. If you need to discuss the issue on the telephone,
find out if you can borrow a phone in someone else's office to
conduct this discussion.
Keep your personal cellular phone off. You are on the
phone, and engaged in a long but hopefully profitable
consultation with a client. Your cellular phone starts ringing.
Because you are engaged, it will take longer for you to answer
the call. In the meantime your phone will create more noise and
distract other employees.
Take your cellular phone to lunch
When you go to lunch, take your cellular phone with you.
This is to ensure that should your phone ring, you are at hand
to answer it. Leaving it behind is unfair, especially if its on,
as the noise may rove distracting. Also, a cellular phone is
very valuable, and you should not leave it lying about. It is
your responsibility to look after it, not pass the buck to your
neighbor.
Turn your answering machine on
When you leave your desk, set your answering machine on.
Your neighbor should not have to field your calls, or try to
work while you telephone rings constantly, unattended.
Keep your personal calls to a minimum
Its best if your receive personal calls at lunch or during
your breaks, and no more. Your private life is your own, and you
should not inflict it on your neighbors.
Do not interrupt someone who is on the telephone
You should refrain from using sign language to interrupt
someone who is on the phone. It is better that you wait until
the call is finished, before you approach the person and tell
them whatever it is that you'd like to discuss.
Use your conference room for meetings
Space is at premium in open plan office arrangement, so
its best that you meet your clients at a conference room, rather
than at your desk. First of all, you want your client to be bale
to relax, and to have the opportunity to provide them with
excellent service without interruptions from your phone,
colleagues or the activities taking place around you. Also, your
neighbor is in fact, in her office, and should have the privacy
to conduct business without worrying about a non-employee
listening in on what she says.
Do not use screen savers which make noise
One mans music is another mans noise, so its very
important that you allow others to work in a quiet area.
Interruptions
The cubicle next to yours is someone else's office. Would
you barge into a colleagues office without knocking and being
told to come in? The cubicle is your colleagues office space, so
respect it. Respect other peoples space when they look busy.
When your colleague looks busy, pretend that the office door is
closed, and they are in a meeting with the company president. So
there should be no interruptions until you pick up the signal
that they may be wiling to talk. On the other hand, don't make
eye contact with someone when you don't want to be interrupted.
Hear no evil
Should you happen to overhear private or confidential
conversations, pretend that you never heard it all. More
importantly, don't repeat what you heard to others.
Beware of smells
Don't wear too much perfume or aftershave: you may think
that it smells wonderfully, while your neighbor chokes on it!
Keep snacking to a minimum. Would you walk into someone else's
office, pull out a chair and start snacking? Absolutely not! The
same principle applies to cubicles. Yes, you are in your side of
the room, however, the partition offers very little privacy, so
your neighbor will be forced to listen to all the crunchy noises
your apple makes, or worse, have the aroma of your fries wafting
in her direction while she tries to get some work done.
Be careful of the impression you make
Your cubicle gives your colleagues and people around you
an impression of the person you are. Recognize that, and make
sure that it does present a good impression. That means that it
should be keep tidy and clean, with documents filed in their
proper places.
