Do’s and Don’ts of Shared Office Spaces

Every workplace comes with written rules and guidelines that must be followed by every employee but also rules that are unspoken but pretty much common sense. We must treat the workplace with respect, we spend a lot of time there! These are some do’s and don’ts of a shared office space.

 

1. DO Practice your Vampire Cough

This may be self explanatory but for those who may have never heard of Dracula, a vampire cough is to cross an arm over their nose and mouth and sneeze – or cough – into their elbow. This traps any airborne bugs or germs into your elbow allowing others to be safe from the wrath of those nasty droplets. To ensure the safety of yourself and others, make sure to wash anywhere you’ve sneezed or coughed into and always wash your hands!

 

1. DON’T Come In When Your Sick

 

This one again is pretty obvious, but DON’T come in when you’re feeling unwell. Especially in these times, definitely not cool. This is putting many people and their families at risk!

 

1. DO Take your Phone Calls Somewhere Else

It’s very difficult to focus on your work when you have distractions in the background. The polite thing to do would be to step outside if you’re taking a phone call; just out of courtesy to your fellow co-workers.

1. DON’T Have Meetings at your Desk.

Book a space separately for any meetings you will need to have with your employees or co-workers. Having a meeting at your desk is very distracting to other workers and it also creates crowding. Many shared office spaces have a boardroom or some type of hourly office space that you can rent for these types of gatherings. 

1. DO Clean up your Workspace

Clean up any papers, garbage wrappers and take home your supplies. It’s also polite to sanitize your workspace down but most places will do that regardless after you have left. 

1. DON’T Book and Not Show Up (Without a Reason) 

Hey, emergencies happen. Sometimes we simply forget and lose track of time… It happens to all of us! However, if you book a room and don’t show up, it sets the office building behind (if they don’t implement no-show fees) as well as other people who wanted to book that time slot. 

1. DO Clean the Microwave After You’ve Made a Accidental Mess

Well this is pretty self explanatory.  Who wants to heat up their food in a stinky dirty microwave? It’s super easy to wipe down those little food splats and doesn’t take much time from your lunch break. It’s also important to not leave your lunch sitting in the fridge for weeks. I’ve had to be the person multiple times in my past jobs to clean out the stinky, moldy food in the fridge that co workers have forgotten about. This makes things more sanitary for your co-workers and yourself as well. 

         

1. DON’T Hog the Office Booking Spaces

Don’t be that person that always books the boardroom with super long, recurring meetings. It’s understandable that some conversations are best to have in person. However, try your best to space your meetings out or book different rooms. The amazing thing about Zoom is you have an option to host those meetings that don’t require being in person for. It saves you time, money and having to wear pants!