Published on | Prototyping: From UX to Front End — Medium Vartika

Let me share an incident with you. Peter is a part of a digital marketing team at ProofHub — a dynamic millennial with a lot of potential and credibility. One fine day, he comes to the office an hour late which was absolutely okay. After all, we all have things to take care of outside office as well. But what was not acceptable was that he came all drunk and started misbehaving with one of the female colleagues.

We did numerous attempts to calm him down and send him home but he was reluctantly making things uncomfortable for her and nasty for the entire office. When things got out of hand, the authorities had to intervene and fired him.

A reasonably good performer who had a promising career ahead of him ruined every chance to let it happen. How? Because he did something that was totally unacceptable and unprofessional.

Oftentimes, we talk about the things we need to do or rather must do at work to climb the proverbial ladder of success. However, I do believe that one should also be mindful of things that he or she should never do at work that could stain reputation or lead to embarrassing results.

Here is an important list of don’ts for anyone who is working in a professional setup (even if you are the boss):

1. Complaining too much

It’s okay to express your displeasure with the way things are being handled at workplace every once in a while. But if this is something that you’re doing every single day, you better change your ways as constant complaining is a reputation-killer at work. You might not even realize how it could go downright against you. If you’re always voicing your grievances in meetings, pantry, washrooms, then people might form an opinion that you can’t cope with change or as someone who doesn’t want to take responsibility.

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2. Gossip or bad-mouthing others

It’s unfortunate to see gossiping or bad-mouthing prevalent in almost every workplace. You might not be a direct participant but we all know how gossip happens in a workplace. As a professional, you must develop certain standards of integrity and honesty in the workplace. Moreover, discussing what’s going on in someone’s personal life or intentionally maligning a coworker’s character won’t do any good to you. You would only end up wasting your time and energy apart from getting labeled as a gossip-monger at work.

3. Dress inappropriately

When it comes to your career, the image you’re projecting at work makes a lot of difference in how far you’re going to get in the company. Just imagine one of your sales team member walks into a client meeting in flip-flops or a new intern dons a pair of shorts at work. As many offices are adopting a casual dress code but oftentimes it has led to certain poor decisions as well. Avoid clothes that are too revealing, ripped, or plain unlaundered.

4. Spending too much time on phone calls and social media

Let’s admit, it’s hard to resist the temptation of checking who posted what on social media platforms be it Instagram or Facebook. It won’t be wrong to say that cellphones are one of the biggest distractions at the workplace. As per a recent survey, 43% of managers worry that young workforce is ruining their career by being constantly glued to their smartphones and spending too much time on calls at work. Try using a work management tool where you can allocate a specific time for every task and activity at work.

5. Come in high or drunk

You know what happened with Peter, right? So, this one is a big NO. I really shouldn’t have to say this as this is something completely intolerable and could have serious repercussions. If you think coming to office after smoking the pot or drunk is cool, then let me tell you that it’s not. Moreover, serious actions could be taken which means even risking your job. And, to all those in the impression that they can hide their act, needless to say, your actions and gestures say it all.

6. Bullying or harassment

It’s important to understand the severeness of harassment and bullying at the workplace as it can impact your career in many ways. In order to show their dominance or superiority, employees often tend to get into the act of bullying that aggravates to harassment at work. But what they often forget is that every company follows strict laws that prevent any form of bullying or harassment at workplace.

I’m sure you would have already been aware or told about all the above points which are a big no-no at work. If I’ve missed out on something, do let me know in the comments section.

Till then, let’s work to make our workplace a better place for all of us.

Take care!

Author Bio:

Vartika Kashyap is the Marketing Manager at ProofHub and has been one of the LinkedIn Top Voices in 2017. Her articles are inspired by office situations and work-related events. She likes to write about productivity, team building, work culture, leadership, entrepreneurship among others and contributing to a better workplace is what makes her click.

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6 Things You Should Never Do at Work was originally published in Prototypr on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

6 Things You Should Never Do at Work

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