Are you rude? Or would you think that were an unnecessary question? Of course, you rarely steal candy from toddlers, neither do you trip people on crutches anymore, nor even remember the last time you made someone, or anyone at that, cry.
All in all, you might not be in the running for a 'Good Samaritan of the Year' Award, but you are a pretty decent person. But how about your co-workers?
Plenty of our daily interactions at work are befuddling. You are often left wondering if people are deliberately rude or just ignorant of their behavior. After all, you would like to think people are not going out of their way to inconvenience you.
With the above in mind, let us take a look at 'unappreciated behavior' that rears its ugly head in an effort to explain why it is rude and why you should not do it (or why someone should not do it to you either).
1. You know what's rude?
When someone --Interruptions are offensive on many levels. When you interrupt someone, you suggest that your time and ideas are more important than everyone else's and that you have no interest in listening to what they have to say.
A rare offense is forgivable, but habitual interruption is problematic, says professional coach Susan B. Wilson. "Some folks interrupt incessantly, whether you are on the phone, in a meeting, deep in thought or in another conversation."
2. No thanksAside from the phrases "Because I said so!" and "No," perhaps the most common thing parents usually say to a child is, "And what do we say?"; which is the prompt for the child to thank someone for a kind gesture -- a practice lost on many adults.
"The following statistic bears repeating," Wilson says. "In a 2002 Public Agenda survey, 48 percent of adults expressed only 'sometimes' encountering people who made an effort to say 'please' and 'thank you'; 16 percent said they saw such behavior 'practically never.'" A few words to show gratitude can put someone in a good mood -- or at the very least can keep someone out of a foul mood. Why not do it?
3. Table mannersKara C.* has her share of venting to do about workplace rudeness, and at the top of the list is the lack of housekeeping manners she witnesses. In her company's communal kitchen, you won't have to look hard to see evidence that someone has recently enjoyed a snack in one of the cups or bowls littering the counter. She wants to remind her colleagues that maids don't work in the office, so they should clean up after themselves.
4. That's just #@*%ing rude!Language is very subjective, and everybody has his or her own unique way of speaking. One person's "Howdy" is another person's "What's up?". When it comes to R-rated language, one person's "hell" is another person's "H-E-double hockey sticks." And that's something you should remember when interacting with others at work.
It's less about the profanity itself and more about the fact that you don't care if it bothers the people around you.
5. Yes, all of us can hear you nowTeenagers are very private about phone conversations. They might be young, but they will give you a scowl that makes you feel like you are the child and they are the adult if you eavesdrop. Strange, then, how a dozen years later, many people do a 180 on this practice and seem to want everyone to hear their conversations.
Have you ever come across someone shouting at the top of their voice while on a phone conversation? Of course, you just would not have to look very far in any typical Nigerian work place to see such. Or one person's speakerphone conversation becoming an entire floor work place business.
Never mind how annoying it is to hear a conversation you're not a part of; think how bothersome it is to try to concentrate on work when someone is blathering in your ears. Rather than force your call on the whole department, learn to talk in a more civilized manner while on the phone (for GSM), and invest in a headset or just hold the receiver in your hand (for land line users).
6. I'm sorry, do I know you?When you are walking down the hall and a co-worker is walking toward you, give a smile, a nod or some other greeting. No one is asking you to engage in a bear hug or to pretend you two are the best of friends. All anyone wants is an acknowledgment that you see them and that you're not going out of your way to avoid having any contact with them.
Why is this important? Well, think about the alternative: You walk down the hall and pretend not to see them by averting your eyes. You'd rather do anything but give a quick acknowledgment to this person.
What kind of message does that send? Ouch!!
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