Kipp’s top 5 workplace don’ts

Kipp’s top 5 workplace don’ts

A little pick here and a flick there never hurt anyone, right? Think again. Kipp highlights five of the worst workplace activities with the hopes that they’ll never happen again…we’re an optimistic bunch (sometimes)

November 23, 2008 4:55 by kippreport

Picking your nose
Both the cheeky thumb flick and the full-on nose excavation are equally offensive. Aside from the hygiene issue, nose picking raises a serious concern: where do you flick your ‘treasures’? If you’re in a crammed office and you’re a certified nose picker (and flicker), striking your colleagues with a flying boogie is a genuine risk, and it isn’t one worth taking. It’s bad enough they think less of you for picking your nose, but to bomb them with your ‘gifts’ is wrong. Besides, no one’s paid enough to suffer that sort of indignation.

Using your “phone voice”
The phone voice is the high volume, over-dramatic ‘working’ voice people use to sound professional. If you have own office, go ahead and shout if you need to. But for those of you who work in open plan offices, the phone voice can make you a target of ridicule and scorn because (and here’s the truth) you sound like an idiot. Keep it down.

Getting into everyone’s business
There’s a time and place for everything, right? Like a time for you to show off your knowledge of something, and a time to keep information to yourself because otherwise people will think you’re annoying. If you agree with that statement, then you’re one of the millions of people who can to spot a know-it-all. No one likes a know-it-all, especially not colleagues. Office workers don’t get to choose who they sit next to; so when you interject other people’s discussions with answers to questions that were never addressed to you, or eavesdrop on their conversations, you’ve crossed the line.

Eating smelly foods, loudly
Smelly food is not meant to be eaten at the office….even if it’s your mother’s cooking. You work in an office, not a kitchen. It’s important to remember that. And while we’re on the food subject, if you insist on eating at your desk, please, please keep the noise down. Who in the right mind wants to hear you chew your food and swallow? No one.

Letting your phone ring incessantly
While your phone ring may be music to your ears, it isn’t to your colleagues’. Loud, incessant, musical phone rings can force a docile employee to the dark side, and you’ll feel the heat of his or her wrath. It isn’t worth it. Turn down the volume on your phone or keep it in your drawer. Besides, just because you think “Let me be your Lover” is a great song, doesn’t mean the whole office needs to hear it incessantly…loudly.–DB