Bad habits at work are not a rare thing. We may see them every day in our colleagues or we ourselves may have them without even noticing it. I myself am quite a pessimist in life. I often complain about everything around not even thinking that it may be annoying for other people. At my last job I was lucky enough to have a colleague who pointed out this flaw of mine in a very polite manner. I started noticing it and working on it and now I believe I do much better and don’t annoy my colleagues that often. If you notice yourself in any of the following points, it is good time for you to work on it. If not, you probably look very professional at work and I congratulate you!
Complaining
There are always people in every office who constantly complain. They can magically find something to complain about even in the most perfect conditions. The boss is terrible, work conditions are unbearable, it is too hot in the room, it is too cold in the room, our lunch breaks are too short, my tasks are too big, this bird outside disturbs me, the water in the cooler tastes funny, this fly won’t let me work, etc. Surely, sometimes we need to share our complaints to feel better, but we should know our limits not to become annoying.
Excessive flirting
Complimenting your colleague’s new hair, dress or watch is fine. A reasonable amount of flirting is possible at work, but knowing the boundaries is a must. If you flirt with anyone, especially with the aim of career advancement, you will look very unprofessional to everyone in the office. Those people who get promotions not because of their good work, but because they flirt with their boss, are usually not very much adored by their colleagues.
Putting off work all the time
Do you have colleagues at work who always call you to drink a cup of coffee, to smoke with them, to chat, to take a bite, to go for a walk, etc.? There are some people who cannot but put off all the tasks they have just to do nothing. Constant procrastination at work, especially if it involves other people, can make you look highly unprofessional.
Trying to please everyone
Your manager wants one thing, the boss wants the other thing, the designer wants the third thing and the marketer says the fifth thing. If you are a true professional, you will decide what is best in this situation and do that. Trying to please everyone and create something that will be not so good, but suitable for all of those people is not the best choice for a professional.
Being late
Being late for a date is fine; being late for a friends’ meeting is also acceptable; being late for a movie is also your call. However, always being late for work is unprofessional and simply rude. Those workers who always come late may be not so popular among their managers because if you cannot come to work in time, how can they be sure that you’ll finish the tasks in time?
Pulling too many jokes
Probably, every office has some people who cannot but joke all the time. Some at least limit themselves to only anecdotes and verbal humor while others can go hardcore and even play tricks on their colleagues. Humor is surely very important in our life and a good joke now and then can be great for a positive work environment, but becoming an office clown doesn’t seem very respectable.
Dressing inappropriately
Modern companies, bosses and managers allow more casual dress code these days. However, it doesn’t mean that you should wear something that looks like pajamas to work. It is also not a secret that women who dress too revealing to work, raise many doubts in terms of their professionalism. I’m not saying that you should wear suits to work every day, but try to look not to eccentric.
Causing conflicts
Some people cannot live without quarrels. They get energy and satisfaction from fighting with other people. Some do it calmly, bringing other people down with mean words; some like to scream and throw things. In any case, this is not an appropriate behavior for work.
Featured photo credit: Businessman/vlczak11 via flickr.com
