The Unspoken rules of civility at workplace.

The unspoken rules of civility at workplace

A prairie dog is cute in wild, not in office.

What is prairie dogging? It's when someone stands up and tosses something to a person a few desks or cubes over/pokes his head out of his cubicle to survey the environment and press over the wall of someone's cubicle. In office, this behavior is pretty annoying. Even if the walls are low enough to gaze over, go around to the opening and treat it as a doorway. Check if it is a good time to speak to your co-worker instead of simply barging in and blabbering away. If your co-worker is talking to someone else or is in deep thought, don't try to get his or her attention at that moment. Try to catch up later. If the matter is urgent, either drop a note on his/her desk or send an e-mail or a chat message. 

Silent zones aren't just for hospitals!!!

NO, you aren't expected to whisper but just speak in a low voice so that you won't disturb people who are working around you. Understand that every individual needs to pay full attention to the task in front of them to perform at their full capacity. Contact your neighbour by walking up to them, sending an e-mail or calling them on the office landline. Yelling from your desk asking, "Mr. ABC, is the report ready?" is simply jarring.

  Handle your smartphone smartly.

Phones are hard to ignore. They connect us to friends and family and are important for work too. Playing game at your desks with sounds coming from your phone is unacceptable. Also you may be a music lover, but that doesn't mean you sing along to your favorite tunes or listen to your computer in a loud voice. Use headphones. Moreover, keep your phone on 'silent' or 'vibrate' mode; you certainly don't want to be a nuisance to your co-workers. Be courteous.

Everything you see isn't public property.

Walking into momentarily vacant cubicle and picking up whatever you want to as if it's your property is a strict no-no. Just because the item is lying in the open or the colleague is friendly and doesn't mind so you can walk away with it!! It is an invasion to one's privacy. Even if the stapler is owned by the company, you need to ask for it each time you need it. Also let the owner know the can expect to get it back, and return it before time. This way, your colleague will be happy to lend you whatever you may need in future.