Ten New Etiquette Tips for the Workplace

[Kool]

http://finance.yahoo.com/expert/article/careerist/40342

I don't know about the rest of you but a lot of these seem like really bad advice. In my former life as a manager if one of my people sent me an e-mail TELLING me they were leaving early instead of asking for permission I would probably send em a reply saying don't bother to come back.

EDIT: I just read some of the comments, seems I'm not the only one who feels this way LOL.

[jena4]

That's how it is at the job I have now. You just let your manager know when you'll be gone so they are aware, but they don't expect, or even want, you to ask. When I first started I needed to leave 15 minutes early for an appointment and I was told not to ask, just to leave if I need to. It all depends on the company you work for. But definitely they shouldn't be suggesting this to everyone.

[Mynock]

Gotta love satire. I know I do.

[hewligan]

If someone from work calls me on the weekend, it damn well better be an emergency.

[The_Black_Knight]

Regarding #9, which is "Call people on the weekend for work":

"The people who grew up being super-connected don't differentiate between the workweek and the weekend, so they don't mind working over the weekend on bits and pieces leftover from the week."

How should I phrase my response to this little gem? Oh yeah, how about:

Ummm, bite me.


My weekend is mine, unless there is a big project that needs to be worked on, and it is arrange in advance.

And don't even think about calling me when I'm on vacation, either, because my voicemail will say the equivalent of "bite me" if you try. If I'm not important enough to never get laid off, then I'm not important enough to call when I'm at home or on vacation.

My time out of the office is mine. Not my employer's. They already get more of my time than my wife does, which is bad enough. They can't have any more.

The most annoying jerks I know are the ones that are texting on their stupid crackberry when everyone else is trying to have a good time, and I don't want to be one of those people.

[Drorain]

ll, thats funny crap, wonder what she got paid for that article...or does she just tell them, pay me 1k and they do.


thanks kool, I skipped that one on yahoo, but you got me to read some real humorous stuff

[budafist]

I tell my bosses when I'm leaving early. It doesn't happen often. I also tell them that I'm flying to Nuie for a week instead of asking for permission. They will say yes anyway, but telling them seems to work around here.

[frankster]

Why does it have to be either highly submissive or highly demanding? Isn't there a happy inbetween like saying "I'd like to go on holiday between this date and this date, if that is OK with the company".

That article is wank.

[Red Kittie Kat]

add my boss to facebook? :eek:

I'm not even on facebook ... and if I was .. I don't want a boss as a pal ... working with them is bad enough at times.

[Kool]

I tell my bosses when I'm leaving early. It doesn't happen often. I also tell them that I'm flying to Nuie for a week instead of asking for permission. They will say yes anyway, but telling them seems to work around here.

Heh heh, I did too but we are "management" and can be assumed to know if the workload would permit it. That's one of the perks. Does your malodorous co-worker enjoy the same privilege? ;)

[PrintDriver]

Oh, I get it. So the kids that come in with the chip on their shoulder, when they come in at all, expecting to be paid for slipshod work and attempting to wear headphones when it is not safe to do so are really acting Transparently?
Riiiighhtttt.....

[hewligan]

Ha! I'm listening to my iPod right now! Take that, old people - I am rebellion personified! :D

(Either that, or I'm in an open plan office, and most of the people here spend half the day with headphones on because it's the only way to get any work done...)

[PrintDriver]

Careful sonny or I'll beat you with my cane... :D

[budafist]

Heh heh, I did too but we are "management" and can be assumed to know if the workload would permit it. That's one of the perks. Does your malodorous co-worker enjoy the same privilege? ;)

He wouldn't dare to take time off! No time off until you have earned your stars :D

[Tea]

I hope no one pays her to write this shi! Seriously, someone should shove her pancaking silver spoon right up her patoot.

I need to slap someone now.

[ЯЖR]

1. I agree, if you really gave a rats ass about how upper mgmt feels you wouldn't be quitting (unless there is some other reason like relocation etc)

2. They make group calendars for a reason, but i still feel that letting my immediate supervisor knowing in person is better than an email.

3. I'm lucky, the head of IT, the two accountants, and the partner (did i mention i work in IT for a CPA?) all listen to the same sirius station as me (Octane!) so i can get away with sharing.

4. What about if you work in video editing/post production/cinematography?

5. Facebook = Personal, i don't share my diary (not that i have one) with my boss, why share my blog?

6. NO! Nosey people are treated like **dookie**, all bosses treat underlings like **dookie** , there is no need to dig up something that is allready known... suck it up.

7. I kinda like this one, but better advice: flex yourself to appeal to sed jerk to better get along.

8. See #5, do as you like, i blog under my name, but some people don't like to.

9. email is better, email makes things less urgent, you can save email.

10. be flexable not nice, lie, cheat, steal, but don't get caught. You cannot make it to the top without stepping on toes. Nice means non-agressive and non-assertive, two things you NEED if you want to get past paper pusher.

As I said, i work for a CPA doing IT, i get paid because i can pretend to work, IT is all hurry up and wait (unless you manage an entire datacenter i guess) but the partners assume i'm doing a damn good job since i'm always on the phone, printing things, and have outlook open (along with regedit or something with alot of computery stuff). I work, don't get me wrong, but most things are sequential and time consuming with alot of downtime.

[Kool]

He wouldn't dare to take time off! No time off until you have earned your stars :D

LOL, exactly.

I kinda wondered if the article might have been meant as satire but if it was it was really badly done. To be good satire it would need to be more over the top than it was plus she had some items that were good advice like the video resume thing.

[SpugNothuson]

An... odd list. Best way I can describe it.

Don't blog under a psuedothingumajig, yeah if my boss ever discovers how to use the internet and that he can do a search for SpugNothuson, pretty sure it'd be an interesting discussion between me and him. Of the bad kind.

[Samakimoto Graphics]

We simply send an email to the immediate supervisor and possible stand in if we have to come in late next day, but if one is leaving early they go over and inform the boss then send an email to possible stand ins.

[PrintDriver]

I like the comment from someone who went to her actual blog page where everyone is raving at her 'good' ideas and calling 'those yahooers' behind the times.

[captain spanky]

that woman is such a loser.
don't ask, just take days off, pester people at home and still be nice in the office? I have a work for people like that... W@nkers.

[Logo-Mechanix]

If they ever call me at home I just leave the phone to my three 15 month old boys. They can say hi and a few other words but mostly incoherent noises so they either think I am crazy or drunk which either way means they ain't gettin much outta me.

[AlexNJ210]

this chick was probably the consultant used for creative material for the movie "Office Space". This article HAS TO BE a joke, its too rediculous to be taken seriously. I mean, find dirt on your boss then invite him/her to facebook??

This chick has done three things throughout her workdays during her career which go as follows:

Blow
Lie
And blow some more on her way up the ladder.

Sad, sad individual. Her chiropractor must have a field-day with her every month.

[LeftBrain Artist]

WTF? #10 - Be nice like your job depended on it.

Isn't that "tip" in direct conflict with no exit interview, wear headphones, don't ask for time off, don't improve your co-workers - things that are essentially violations of common courtesy or not-nice things to do?

[gluhen]

Miss Manners would flip her wig if she read these new pieces of "etiquette".

[Patrick Shannon]

I want to think the article satire, but some of the other tips are somewhat logical. I are confused.

[PrintDriver]

Look what I found. Check it out:
http://blog.penelopetrunk.com/2007/07/26/10-tips-for-the-new-workplace-etiquette/

I'm ashamed to discover she writes for the Boston Globe. Oh my...

And I skimmed the articles she quotes. Nowhere does it say Fortune 500s are catering to the whims of children, they are trying to identify the stars among the chaff. Let me guess who the stars are - they won't be wearing headphones and using Facebook <whatever the hell that is> while at work. LOL!

I also found her reference source, a Deloitte publication about dealing with Gen Y-ers. She has a link in another one of her blogs here
http://blog.penelopetrunk.com/2007/07/11/blogger-frustration-deloittes-great-data-that-i-cant-link-to/
Nowhere, not anywhere, does it mention any of the outrageous 'tips' she propounds.

[Mynock]

satire: a literary tone or work used to make fun of human vice or weakness often with the hope or intent of changing or correcting the behavior of the subject of the satiric attack
www.iclasses.org/assets/literature/literary_glossary.cfm (http://www.google.com/url?sa=X&start=11&oi=define&q=http://www.iclasses.org/assets/literature/literary_glossary.cfm&usg=AFQjCNGIR4YYJHQUrbLOJ327BGGXGpxTIA)

[urstwile]

I want to think the article satire, but some of the other tips are somewhat logical. I are confused.
I was confused by this as well.

Mynock, as the GDF king of sarcasm and satire, do you really think this was all in jest?

[hewligan]

I had a look at some of the rest of her blog that PD linked to. I don't think it is a joke, unfortunately.

[doubting_thomas]

I had a look at some of the rest of her blog that PD linked to. I don't think it is a joke, unfortunately.
Then it means at least one of three things:
1) I am getting old much faster than I think,
2) I am very much out of touch with the younger crowd and will soon be
confused when trying to conduct business,
3) That article is bunk

[urstwile]

I vote for 3!

[captain spanky]

yeah 3, but you've spelt it wrong... it should be spelled B..O..L..L..O..C..K..S.. :D

[SpugNothuson]

I couldn't have put it better Spanky.

[captain spanky]

i asked my boss what he would do if i just told him i was going on holiday instead of asking... he said 'advertise your position' :D

[SpugNothuson]

Does it pay well Spanky? I'm looking for a change of scenary.

[PrintDriver]

I don't think it's satire, Mynock. She and her crowd might really believe this.

The publication she mentions goes on about how you have to recognize how wired in the GenY-ers are (and to some extent the GenX-ers) and work within the framework of how they supposedly think, which is Globally, in groups that may be more swarm-like than led, and able to use the technology that may allow them to better utilize a flex-time schedule by working remotely in a way that is better than was ever available before.

Which are all valid points.

The publication says nothing about FaceBook, or walking out when you feel like it, or wearing headphones at work. It does mention that Gen-Ys will avoid face to face confrontation and will ignore unpleasant people (I must learn that skill :D).

Deloitte is a very well respected consulting firm and to twist their well-documented research into what that article is doesn't do anyone any good. The idea is to recognize the new skill-set that the up-and-comings have and learn to exploi...erm...utilize it to maximize the corporate bottom line. I have no worries in that respect. :)

[AlexNJ210]

The idea is to recognize the new skill-set that the up-and-comings have and learn to exploi...erm...utilize it to maximize the corporate bottom line. I have no worries in that respect. :)

haha, there is the diamond in the rough right there. :rolleyes:

[Mynock]

I hope for the sake of humanity this is parody. If not I really don't care as it has no effect on my or anyone else really. If it's not parody, she's a troll or and idiot.

[morea]

yeah 3, but you've spelt it wrong... it should be spelled B..O..L..L..O..C..K..S.. :D

I thought it was spelled P.A.N.T.S. - guess I'd better brush up!

That article is crazy, but not crazy enough for me to believe that it's satire. Just like Kool said:

To be good satire it would need to be more over the top than it was plus she had some items that were good advice like the video resume thing.

Pants, I tell you!

[Jackimalyn]

So there's a good chance that your CEO is registered, and it's likely that she'll really want to hear from you about what to do on Facebook, since she surely has no clue.

Just a strange observation I made... she was using "she" when referring to the CEO. And Im pretty sure your CEO does not need to see photos of you bonging a 6-pack or that your interests include "kickin it with the crew".

[seamas]

The headphone thing kind of threw me.
At first I thought she was talking about a headpiece for the phone (hands-free).

She seems to be only familiar with one type of office, with no regard for the possiblity of customer/client/guest/patient interaction (where headphones would be beyond innapropriate), or other types of work where taking off early can really have an effect on the rest of the "team".
I mean, most people understand someone darting off because of an emergency, but otherwise, while "asking" to go early might be a thing of the past, it is still customary to inform bosses and co-workers with as much advanced warning as possible.

[John G]

Seems alright to me, not sure about the facebook CEO thing, but they'd probably be much more abt to remember you later on.... so it could be appropriate.

I'm not wild about calling on the weekends thing, but it's already like that at a few places my friends work at.