Though ‘collaboration’ is today’s buzzword, the reality is that most people still spend the majority of their time on individual tasks that require concentration. Both the office design – and the behavior of the people in it – should support this kind of work.
I’ve recently shared ten office etiquette tips in an article in the Business section of The Globe & Mail called “Loudmouth in the next cubicle? Send him this.”
We all have our pet peeves and know the offenders. You can speak to them as I suggest in the article (be direct, but kind, because the person might not have realized they were causing a distraction). Or you can send the article to them (as The Globe suggests in the title they added...though the ‘loudmouth’ part may not exactly strengthen your relationship). Or you can discretely hang our Office Etiquette Tips poster in their area and tiptoe away.
You can download a PDF copy of this poster from our website or contact your local LogiSon Representative and they’ll send you a hard copy.
But keep in mind that office etiquette should be a complement to – not a substitute for – strategies such as absorbing, blocking and covering noise. While behaving in an acoustically sensitive fashion will go a long way, we can’t curtail our activities too much or we’ll restrict our own comfort and performance. Any remaining noises made by people simply doing their jobs must be addressed through design.
Cheers,
Niklas