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Company breakrooms serve as a retreat for employees. It’s a space to unwind and take a break, whether enjoying your lunch or leisurely reading the newspaper. Breaks throughout the day, especially for lunch, are necessary to keep employees happy and productive. However, even though the breakroom is a place to relax, a few rules still apply to ensure everyone can have a tranquil experience. Here are 6 rules for breakroom etiquette that you should keep in mind when using your company's lunchroom.

1. Keep the Coffee Flowing

Draining the last drop of coffee into your mug in the morning without brewing more for your coworkers might be the worst offense of breakroom etiquette. This rule comes down to politeness and consideration of other coworkers who may be looking forward to their share of free coffee without having to wait for it to brew.

2. Keep the Space Clean

As with any communal space, it’s important to keep your breakroom neat and tidy. Be sure to clean all surfaces and office furniture after dining as others are sure to use it after you, and they won’t want to sit down at a table covered in crumbs or spills. As a rule of thumb, leave the lunchroom as clean as or cleaner than it was when you walked into it so nobody has to clean up after your mess.

3. Freshen up the Fridge

Ensuring that the fridge is kept fresh can be challenging when numerous employees use it to store snacks and lunches. Don’t store anything past its expiration date. Labeling any item with both your name and the date it was stored serves multiple functions: Not only is a labeled item very clearly off-limits to others, but knowing when an item was first placed in the fridge can ensure that expired food doesn’t sit and rot while taking up precious fridge space.

4. Use the Microwave Efficiently

For the sake of others hoping to use the microwave, avoid selecting foods that need to be microwaved for a long time. It’s also best to stay near the microwave so that you can quickly remove your meal from it, allowing someone else to use it as soon as possible.

5. Avoid Super Smelly Foods

In addition to avoiding meals that hog the microwave, it’s also a good idea to consider how strong your meal smells before taking it to work. In an office environment, particularly strong-smelling food can distract other workers and linger in the air for a long time—something that no one will appreciate, be it a good smell or bad.

 

Follow the Quirky Rules

Every office has its own breakroom rules that reflect the company’s culture. Even if they may be a bit quirky—no popping popcorn in the office or no brewing flavored coffee and regular coffee in the same coffee maker—it’s best to respect these rules and follow them accordingly.

Breakrooms
Employee Wellness

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Email Etiquette: Best Practices for the Workplace

Email Etiquette: Best Practices for the Workplace

As email use rises in the workplace, so does the opportunity for these emails to result in clashes between workers with different communication styles. This can cause unnecessary tension between colleagues and between managers and employees. So how do we fix the tension and other issues that email miscommunication can create? Here are some email best practices that can help to keep everyone on the same page.

Be Direct 

Being straightforward can help save time and keep others from misinterpreting your intentions. Avoiding sarcasm, as the chances your tone will be conveyed how you intended are slim. Say what you mean to lessen the chance of confusion.

Avoid Being Short 

While being direct is certainly a good practice, overly short emails can convey displeasure or irritation to the reader—even if the sender didn’t mean for such a translation. The best course of action is always to include a greeting and write complete sentences. While replying “Great.” is shorter and less time-consuming than “Hello, Marie, I think that sounds great,” the second option clarifies the tone and meaning of the email.

Avoid Informal Abbreviations

Using ‘u’ instead of ‘you,’ ‘r’ instead of ‘are,’ or ‘lol’ to show your amusement has become common in part due to the desire to type or text a message as quickly as possible. Despite time-saving intentions, an email correspondence full of such abbreviations may strike readers as unprofessional or even rude. It’s best to leave casual abbreviations and acronyms out of workplace communication.

Avoid Colored and Wacky Fonts

While it may be tempting to personalize your email settings, bright colors or swirly fonts can be very distracting for readers and may make your message difficult to read. It can be a frustrating experience for the receiver if they must read the message repeatedly or squint at the screen. Instead, use easy-to-read fonts and dark colors such as a traditional 12pt. Arial or Times New Roman font in black.

Have Long Discussions Face-to-Face When Possible 

It still holds that email is a great way to communicate for short, quick messages. Talking in person is a better option for longer discussions or topics more up for debate. While it may be easier for emotions to escalate while behind a computer screen, being face-to-face during these discussions makes it easier to express or understand an opposing point of view and reach a compromise.

 

7 Tips for Meeting Room Etiquette

Conference rooms are shared spaces meant to be used as collaboration hubs between coworkers and private spaces for employees and employers. As with any shared space, employees need to abide by certain unwritten rules if the space is to be properly maintained and used by all.

1. Don’t Use a Conference Room Without Booking It First

You may think it’s OK to pop into an unoccupied meeting room for a few minutes without booking it. After all, ideas happen on the fly, and you shouldn’t need to wait to share your thoughts with team members. But what will you do when someone else takes the time to book that room only to be rudely turned away by you when you haven’t reserved the space? 

Keep coworkers in the loop by taking a moment to reserve the room before taking over the space. We also recommend adding an open collaborative space near your workstations that does not need to be booked. Provide basic office furniture or a standing height storage island that can be used based on the understanding that it does not need to be reserved and is specifically put there for those on-the-fly interactions.

2. Don’t Double-Book Conference Rooms

Double-booking is usually an accident, but double-check to make sure it isn’t a mistake you’re making. Sometimes when we book conference rooms, we select every conference room in the office to see which is available at the required time. Then we forget to unselect the ones we aren’t actually using—whoops. Suddenly nobody is able to book a conference room because you accidentally reserved rooms you aren’t using. Be considerate and do a quick double-take after you reserve a space.

3. Book and Cancel Your Conference Room Early

As soon as you know you’ll need a meeting room, book it! The longer you wait, the more difficult it will be for you to get the room you want, and you don’t want to be put in a situation where you need to ask coworkers to move their meetings just because you weren’t proactive in planning yours. In addition, if a meeting gets canceled, make sure you cancel your room reservation immediately. This will ensure that others will have time to reserve it for themselves.

4. Leave the Conference Room as Clean as or Cleaner Than You Found It

It’s simple—don’t make a mess. If you came in with a coffee cup, take it with you. If you shredded your notebook paper as a habit, throw it in the garbage. If your large meeting was catered, clean up the mess. You can even go the extra mile by wiping down fingerprints from the conference table or dusting the computer monitor before you leave the room.

5. Leave Promptly When Your Meeting Time Ends

When booking your conference room, take care that you’re allotting enough time for the meeting. Whether you successfully hit all the talking points needed or not, keep an eye on the clock and evacuate the space when your time slot has ended. You take up your coworkers’ time by running your meeting into theirs, and we guarantee they won’t appreciate it. 

6. Accommodate the Needs of Others

You don’t need a conference room built to seat 10 if you only have 2 people in the meeting. If you book a large conference room for a small number of people and a coworker asks you to switch rooms, be accommodating. Issues often arise, and your coworkers may ask to use your conference room in an emergency. Be understanding and help out your peers when you can. 

7. Keep the Door Closed

The people working around you don’t need to hear your entire conversation. Do them all a favor and close the door when your meetings are in session. Similarly, those interrupting a meeting for any reason should knock before entering. A closed door means “give us some privacy” and should be taken as a sign that you need to ask permission before entering.

Whether you’re having a private meeting with your manager or a 20-person training session, following these guidelines will keep your coworkers happy and ensure everyone is able to use your office’s meeting rooms equally. 

Office Gift Giving Etiquette during the Holidays

First thing’s first: determine whether or not it’s appropriate to give gifts in your office at all. The answer to this question will vary from business to business, so if you’re new ask around and determine whether or not gift giving is the norm. Fellow co-workers will usually be able to fill you in on what types of gifts they usually give and to whom. If you’re having difficulty nailing down that information, a good rule of thumb is to give your boss and any employees working under you a simple holiday card. If your office is the gift-giving kind, follow these rules for proper etiquette.

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