No matter how much you love your work or admire coworkers, there are certain things you should never do at work
When you spend almost every day of the week with the same individuals, developing a sense of familiarity is a given.
However, regardless of how comfortable you feel around your colleagues, there are boundaries you should never cross at your workplace.
Here is a list of nine things you should absolutely avoid.
Taking things too personally
The workplace environment should be strictly professional. Any feedback must be given and taken constructively. The only matter to be taken seriously should be your ability to deliver the best performance.
However, malicious remarks and gestures should be dealt with according to the organisation’s guidelines with the help of officials who were trained to deal with such matters.
Faking skills and credentials
Under no circumstances should you lie about your qualifications and skills. It will only turn against you in the future when you are tasked with something involving that specific skill you made up. False claims can also take away opportunities from worthy candidates or employees within the organisation. It can also slow down the whole system and affect efficiency in the long run.
Initiating intimate relationships in a formal setting
It is understandable for an individual to start developing feelings for those who they see on a daily basis. Though it might seem like a good idea at first, the truth is – not all relationships work out. And besides the obvious downfalls of a broken relationship, the last thing you need is for your personal matters to start interfering with your professional life. It only encourages awkward encounters and adds stress to your already busy life.
Getting too emotional
The golden rule has always been to keep your work life and private life separate. Although both are equally important and take up significant chunks of your day, it is best to keep emotions regarding private matters away while you are in a professional setting. Crying or screaming at work is not professional. If you are facing problems in your personal life, you could try and take a day or two off from work.
Getting too comfortable
This goes hand in hand with the last two points. Your workplace should be a place of structure and professionalism. Things such as coming in late or missing meetings (even the ones held online) should be avoided at all costs. However, maintaining friendly yet formal relationships with colleagues is always a good idea.
Working under influence
Coming into work in an intoxicated state is never allowed. Not only will you get sent home or worse, be terminated, depending on the country and its laws, you might even end up behind bars. Such actions are always met with severe repercussions and are hard to recover from even if you get to keep your job.
Being disruptive at work
Listening to music at work is not a crime nor is it discouraged, however, listening to loud music with other people trying to concentrate around you is a completely different story. If you can work with loud music or chatter in the background, that is a great ability one can possess.
However, this does not apply to everyone. Some people need peace and quiet in order to focus.
Being too harsh
Be kind and helpful to those around you; there is no way around it. You can be an authoritative figure within the organisation and guide subordinates in the direction you want without having an overly harsh approach or tone. Moreover, respecting boundaries is very important. What may sound like a joke to someone, may hurt another person.
Spreading false information
False claims and rumours are never a good idea. More often than not, they can be traced back to individuals responsible for them. It neither looks good for those involved nor does it help spreaders receive brownie points from their boss. Such petty behaviours have no place in a professional setting.
Disclaimer: This article first appeared on TBS on 10 February 2022, and can be found at 9 things you should never do at work