by Maureen Bordelon

Created on: December 12, 2008   Last Updated: January 14, 2009

We humans are an imperfect species. Despite our quirks and fallacies, we come together in the workplace to perform tasks and receive compensation for completing those tasks. However, there are those that feel the office is part of their personal space and act upon compulsions better left for a different time and place. Professionalism is not the term defined by these compulsions and examples of poor actions in the workplace are outlined in the following.

Personal Hygiene

The office bathroom is not and should not be the area designed in which to bathe. Despite the long evening you may have had the night before, please bathe in your own home. The sight of a partially unclothed person holding a washcloth and soaping their armpits first thing in the morning does not lead to a productive day for your fellow workers.

Also, please choose to clip your fingernails or toenails for another time. The sound of clip, clip, clipping of nails is distracting. You never know when or where the errant nail will land. If the nail piece lands in your supervisor's coffee, you may find that you have quickly risen to the top of the termination pipeline.

On a side note, if utilizing the toilet facilities, please remember that there are others that use them as well. Offices have paid staff or contractors that do a pretty fair job at keeping them clean. If you have doubt as to the cleanliness of the toilet seat, do not stand on top of the seat to utilize the facilities. Eventually, all office staff will discover the guilty party and ostracism is a lonely place.

Telephone Etiquette

A sub-title such as the one above should be self-explanatory. Telephone conversations should always be professional and polite. Unfortunately, there are always those few employees that feel entitled to use a business telephone to carry on personal business.

Never should you use the business phone for intensely personal conversations, especially if you're in a cubicle setting. Your cubicle mate will not appreciate the argument with your spouse concerning his contraction of the latest sexually transmitted disease. If you wish to keep your private life private, wait until you get home. While sometimes personal conversations are necessary, keep them to a minimum.

Fundraisers: Catalogs-Trinkets and Food

Unless your employer is sponsoring a fundraiser, please use your own time to promote your latest cause. Your co-workers will thank you. Little Johnny's baseball team or little Susie's cheerleading squad will not go bankrupt

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