In every office you have a few co-workers who lack common sense, certain courtesies and general business etiquette.
There is no doubt that you have a few co-workers who lack common sense, certain courtesies and general business etiquette.
In every office there’s that one person who, for example, never refills the kettle, who has a messy desk, or who greets everyone with hugs instead of handshakes. In every office also always: a complainer, a gossiper, and a brown-noser.
Then, there are these 3 colleagues whose actions could actually harm your and your company’s reputation.
The co-worker who fails to introduce you - every time
As an employee you often need to meet new clients, partners, or colleagues or attend meetings led by one of your co-workers. It is then, as proper business etiquette dictates, the duty of the mutual bring-togetherer, to do the introductions and explain who you are and why it’s important that you’re present.
There’s nothing worse than feeling a little undermined (and invisible) when your co-worker, the no-introductioner, fails to introduce you to new colleagues at networking events, business meetings or informal meet and greets. This sends the message that teamwork is not a priority for your company, and that you (and presumably all other employees who have no problem with being overlooked) are not confident, opinionated, or important. Also, it just makes everyone a little more uncomfortable.
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Nip it in the bud:
Put out your hand, pump out your chest, and assertively proclaim your presence. And do so professionally, i.e. without throwing shade at the no-introductioner. (You can rather do the mean spirited ‘what I should’ve said was…’ confrontation later in the shower).
The co-worker who shares too much information - every time
There are certain facts that no-one else needs to know, least of all your clients, partners, customers, or any business professional you’re trying to impress. Things like the bad stats you’ve been trying to sugar coat, that one area where you’re falling behind competitors, office gossip (perhaps about the gossiper, complainer, or brown-noser), or anything similar that was never supposed to leave the room in which the information was initially shared.
These could leave you red-faced with dire consequences you haven’t even fathomed yet (including losing unwavering trust as well as the long term positive relationship you were so looking forward to). This is completely unacceptable and unprofessional behaviour.
Nip it in the bud:
While you can’t act as a filter when it happens in live action, you can come armed with a counter argument: either underplay the magnitude of the accidental reveal by saying something like “that’s a vast exaggeration” or “sometimes our team fairs well when we over-estimate” or brush it off by making it seem like you’ve never ever heard it before, followed with an “I’m sure that’s not right/true/accurate/final, we’ll look at it again.”
Immediately confront the person afterwards and make it clear that comments like these can never reoccur.
The co-worker who emails in shorthand - every time
There’s always that one co-worker who abuses email streams. Whether it’s:
• compulsively ‘Replying-All’ to send irrelevant messages to all that could be sent to one person ;
• compulsively ‘Replying-All’ to send a (incorrectly used) meme;
• compulsively using abbreviations tht totes mke thm sm lyk a tween;
• compulsively sending 5 consecutive emails (that begins with ‘Oh, one other thing’ ‘This too’ also, I forgot to mention’) when sending one mail containing everything would have sufficed.
The worst part: these ugly email streams are also sent to clients, customers, partners, and other people whose opinions matter.
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Nip it in the bud:
Please educate this person. Circulate this and this article around the office.
If subtle implying doesn’t do the trick, send the chats-like-email-is-IMer the articles directly, and Ctrl+C/Ctrl+V’ing your favourite points in the body of the email.
You might also like to read:
• The 10 types of co-workers every single person hates
• A No-Nonsense Guide: Handling a competitive co-worker who tries to bring out the worst in you
• Get rid of annoying co-workers once and for all (without being rude)
