Office Protocols
Things have been spiralling out of control recently and so it’s time to remind all staff about some issues of office protocol.
1. The right place for your dirty coffee cups is not on the front desk. Reception is the first contact visitors have to the office and looking at the science project that’s been brewing in your cup over the weekend doesn’t create the impression that our company wants to present to the outside world. The receptionist would also like it pointed out that whilst she has no objection to the occasional fresh cup of coffee appearing on her desk as a token of appreciation, she resents the fact that despite her efforts to keep the desk polished and her plants alive, some of you still mistake the area as the kitchen sink.
Correct Protocol: All dirty cups and other assorted plates, cutlery etc should be taken to the staff kitchen, washed and put away by the person who used them.
2. When reporting a piece of equipment as being defective please be prepared to answer certain questions about it. You may find it useful to keep a note of things such as serial numbers etc in your desk drawer so that when the maintenance people ask you what make/model your computer is for example, you can tell them more than it’s got a keyboard, mouse and runs on a Windows platform! You should also ensure that before placing a call to maintenance to report a fault, you check that if the faulty equipment runs on batteries, you’ve tried replacing them and it still doesn’t work, or if it’s electrical that you have made sure that the plugs to both the equipment and the power supply are connected – Finance Department are not happy about the amount of call outs for “faulty” equipment where the only “fault” is that someone took out the plug and forgot to plug it in again!
Correct Protocol: Check equipment for identification numbers and possible reasons for it not working before reporting a piece of equipment as faulty and requiring maintenance – “Unplugged” is not a fault.
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3. Deadlines are for the final document to be in the hands of the person or committee that needs it, not the date that they arrive on your secretary’s desk! There are too many overtime requests being made by secretaries working for bosses who play solitaire. This is resulting in stressed overload in the office and a general hostile atmosphere against management that is not conducive to the team spirit the company wishes to promote.
Correct Protocol: Schedule your deadlines and workload so that you give adequate time to your secretary to get the work back to you without having to work through her lunch and weekends in order that you don’t get into trouble for it being late.
Protocols may be boring, but they make much better team mates than resentment and hostility, so keep your dishes clean, your equipment working and your deadlines organized and you’ll find office staff don’t stop talking immediately you walk into the room!