Hello fellow Monkeys in the Middle! We have a treat for you today. One of our regular readers, working in the trenches, sent an article for us to share! If you would like to submit some of your relevant thoughts, we will give you a free coffee cup (if we publish it on our blog).
Day after day, I sit at my desk working in my rice bowl and random office conversations filter into my consciousness. Regularly I find myself thinking, “Is there no tact left in the world?” Those who know me may get a good belly laugh at this statement coming from me! I have been known to be the proverbial “bull in the china shop”; therefore, I will show some humility and keep my comments to three succinct points.
First, let us not forget the importance of internal customers. These are the people with whom you work each day. If it is your job to manage the calendar, then that person having a calendar question is, in fact, your customer. CS stands for customer service not customer sarcasm. Workplace attitude starts with the individual attitudes of those perceived “leaders” in the workplace. Project leads are often more influential is setting this standard than the one person in charge. Think about it…
Secondly, please remember some sort of social grace! Although most of the business world has relaxed considerably, particularly in states such as California where shorts and flip flops may be the office norm, there is still a standard of conduct that does not include fart jokes, f-bombs, and outfits better suited for the nightclub (or worse yet, the laundry mat!) It is not being fake to have a professional persona…it is being a professional.
Last, but definitely not least, please do not confuse being polite with never saying “no” or not standing your ground. This is not what I’m suggesting. I am suggesting…pleading, in fact, for the incorporation of some tact in your normal day to day activities. Saying no and being hateful are not actually joined at the hip. Nothing hurts morale faster and deeper than humiliation. Whoever said ‘nice guys finish last’ must be confusing nice with weak, which also are not joined at the hip.
Photo attributed to: http://www.flickr.com/photos/herval/376377791/
First, let us not forget the importance of thick skin.
Second, please remember that the companies where employees are encouraged to be themselves are wildly successful (Micro Soft, Google, Facebook, etc…)
Last, and most definitely not least, please do not confuse your definition of tact, with the true definition. Tact is not a standard of conduct, it is careful consideration when dealing with others to avoid giving offense. Consider the benefit of everyone having sufficiently thick skin that we need not spend (waste) time worrying about them taking offense. A professional persona by definition is fake and if you can’t see that it might be too late for you.