How to be more Courteous to your Coworkers
Courtesy is about far more than saying “please” and “thank-you”, which knife and fork to use at dinner and how to address a bishop. True courtesy is about considering other people and their feelings. So how can you apply this in the workplace and be more courteous to your workmates.
Taking credit for someone else’s hard work or ideas is discourteous. When you make sure your superior knows, that someone else contributed to the work, that he is praising you for, you are giving your workmate his or her due. When you allow others their moment to shine, it reflects well on you. Your colleague will be happy that you gave them credit and your superior will remember that you did not grab the limelight for yourself when you could have done. This will stand you in good stead.
If a colleague is over-loaded with work and you do not have very much, helping him or her, is not only good manners, it means that when the positions are reversed and you are struggling with an overload your coworker will return the favour. Helping your colleague helps raise the productivity of your team. Letting him or her struggle would be to expose him or her to unnecessary stress and helping with the work is a caring thing to do.
Leaving your dirty coffee cup, for others to wash is selfish. Washing your own cup and those cups that someone else has forgotten and washing down the coffee area, so that it is clean for the next person, is the caring and considerate thing to do.
Talking and laughing loudly, when a colleague is trying to listen to a telephone call is discourteous, keeping your funny story until the call is over, and everyone can enjoy it fully, is the considerate action.
Taking cream cakes into the office is a nice thing to do but if two colleagues are slimming furiously for a wedding, the considerate thing to do is take some delicious home baked low fat, low sugar cookies so that everyone can enjoy a treat without guilt.
Considering your colleagues feelings means that when a shy colleague, is overwhelmed in team meeting by other more outgoing personalities that you make the opening for your shy workmate to speak. It means that you notice a new hairstyle or a pretty dress, a good piece of work or a great idea and pay compliments. It means you remember to ask Shirley how her daughter is doing at university or Rob how his sick father is. It means caring about your colleagues and their well-being and that you do the best that you can to make them feel good about themselves, to help them to make their best contribution to the team.
Being considerate is something we should all practice in daily life and even more so in the workplace. When we help and consider our colleagues, and their feelings, we become better people ourselves. When workers consider one another, the workplace becomes a more pleasant place to work. Considering workmates and their feelings are part of improving inter-personal skills. True courtesy is considering other people’s feelings.
