Office Issues: How To Overcome Miscommunication with Your Colleagues

The "open office" format has been becoming more and more popular with companies these days. Whether you work in "Cubeyville" (the cubicle village) or in an office where it has offices but an open format, you have experienced the ups and downs of the open office.

In the open office format, you co-workers are more accessible. There is the opportunity for more open communication. However, there are some things that make this layout less than ideal. Some of those things are beyond your control, but there are some things you can do to make life easier for you and all those around you.

The first thing to keep in mind is how much of your personal life do you want your "neighbors" to know. Noise travels quite well in these environments. If you are making several personal phone calls throughout the day, everyone around you can hear every last word. There is no privacy. There are things people around you just do not want to know such as your medical history, the current drama in your family, and other issues past. Also if you make several personal calls telling the same story through out the day, your co-workers will tire of hearing about it. Try to keep your personal business from being common knowledge.

Personal phone calls need to be made during work hours. It happens. However, when you must make them use your cell phone and maybe try to find a place that isn't so "public" to make the arrangements. Do you really want your life to be on display for everyone to hear. Personal conversations are not always limited to calls. Sometimes you may have a co-worker you are sharing this information with. Just remember as you two are going on about these things, everyone else can listen along. The other point with this is that working in this environment already has a large level of distractions. You can hear everyone and everything around regardless of personal or business issues. Additional distractions for your co-workers can lead to less productivity.

The next issue is the food issue. Just because you love a particular food, does not mean the rest of the office does. Eating at your desk may save time, but the odors from your meal may be over powering. Be considerate of your office mates when selecting your lunch.

The last thing to keep in mind is that there are things you do not have any control over. Undoubtedly you are going to discover that the one girl who always complaints about not having enough time to get her work done, spends her whole day on the phone with her friends and family. Not to mention she takes at least an hour and half for lunch each day. You will find there are people whos work ethic and working behaviors are in contrast to yours. It happens. Life isn't perfect and the neither is the workplace. You need to pick your battles. Are the distractions minor, or are they keeping you from doing your work? If they are minor, suck it up. If it affects your work, then you need to do something about it. Do you find yourself having to cover for the person while she spends all day making doctor's appointments on occasion or daily? What are the circumstances? If you make yourself miserable by getting upset about every little thing, that can be distracting to you and to your other co-workers.

For example, one day a student went to the receptionist desk in our office area. The receptionist was on the phone with a family member going on and on about her and day. The student really did need to see me, and apparently did not see the sign pointing into the Assessment Center. First, the receptionist was rude to the student for asking for help and interrupting her phone call. Once the student made it to my desk, she then complained to the person she was on the phone with about said student asking for help. Mind you I have an office per se, but our office area has an open layout Not to mention her desk in the reception area is only maybe 20 feet from my desk. Not only was she rude to the student's face, she then was even more rude by complaining about having to do her job. I could hear her, and the student could too. In that case, I did say something because it was not right to treat the student like that, and the student was obviously hurt by the comment. It wasn't just annoying to me.

Working in an open environment has its pros and cons. The best way to survive is to be considerate of your co-workers (and if you have them customers), and do your job to the best of your ability. Keep your ego in check! Personality clashes will happen. Work style conflicts will arise. Learn the difference between your own pet peeves and actual issues and you will be no worse for wear.