We all have bad habits that we bring to the workplace. Here’s the ten most common habits that wreak havoc on your professional image in a big league way.
1. Eating lunch at your desk.
You may think you look like you’re an extra hard-worker by powering through a working lunch, but that’s not how it will appear to your coworkers and managers. Coworkers will see a someone trying to make everyone else look bad for taking deserved lunch breaks and bosses will wonder why you’re not able to manage your time as well as your colleagues.
2. Chewing with your mouth open
Unfortunately, this is common enough for me to even have to mention…
3. Going into work sick
Your work is not important enough to warrant getting everyone in the office sick. Please stay home, we beg of you.
4. Slouching
This isn’t high school, and it’s also better for your overall health to practice sitting up straighter.
5. Passive Aggressiveness
If you need someone you work with to help with a project or you simply want them to close their mouth when they chew, it’s professional to be direct yet polite. Passive aggressiveness is annoying and unnecessary.
6. Bad talking other people/colleagues
I believe the saying goes, “don’t ever say anything to anyone that you don’t want everyone to know”? You get the idea, although colleagues may seem like friends and it may be fun to trash talk Dwight with Jim, you never know how much Jim might accidentally share with Dwight next time they’re chatting about you. This goes double for the boss.
7. Spreading rumors/office gossip
Everyone loves the office gossip because we all secretly want to know all the juicy details. However, no one takes the office gossip seriously because their credibility and trustworthiness is completely shot.
8. Showing up late to a meeting…with your Starbucks
You called and let them know traffic was horrible so you’d be a couple minutes late – and yet you walk in with a hot Starbucks. We all know Starbucks drive-thrus take 20 minutes, and being late makes it look like your time is a lot more valuable than theirs. Leave the Starbucks in your car.
9. Tattling
I get it, Dwight doesn’t pull his fair share of the weight when it comes to shared work projects, and your boss should know so you can get all the credit. When I was a kid, my mom employed the rule that if us kids tattled on each other, we would all get punished. What it did was force us to work it out amongst ourselves. If Dwight isn’t pulling his fair share, you need to have a conversation – maybe he doesn’t realize you don’t think he’s pulling his weight or he’s pulled into too many projects at once an doesn’t see yours as a priority. Either way, tattling makes everyone look unprofessional.
10. Poor Grammar/Spelling
Simple things like messing up your/you’re can make you look crazy unprofessional. There’s a reason for spell/grammar checking tools built into work tools – use them.
-Elizabeth Becker, Client Partner and Marketing Manager at IT Staffing Firm PROTECH. Looking for an engaging job or new technical hire? You can reach me at 561-953-8800 ext 227 or elizabethb@protechfl.com.
