Handy tips on office technology etiquette

In today’s office, technology is common place. But using technology is not always a walk in the park. How we use it is tightly threaded into our behaviour, some of which is not always pleasing to those around us.

There are some unspoken rules about the appropriate use of technology at work. Taken for granted, these seemingly trite rules can cause strife and upset office relationships and productivity.

Here are some courtesy tips. Email is a standard office communication tool. One of the most annoying behaviour is sending an email message to tens or hundreds of people who have nothing to do with the message.

Hitting the “reply to all” icon on the email with hundreds of email addresses is akin to taking a bullhorn and shouting your lungs off on a busy street.

BOUNDARY
No one cares about it. It is annoying and costly — because unnecessary messages eat into people’s time and digital space. Never “reply to all” unless the message is meant for all.

Also, separate your work email from your personal email. Only use your work email for work-related stuff. Don’t use it to keep in touch with friends, family and to track your side jobs.

If you didn’t know, a copy of all emails sent or received through office email is retained on your company’s email server and can be retrieved by someone else and read.

DISTRACTION
Would you want your boss to know about your personal life, including tightly-canned secrets? Using company email account for personal emails is both misuse of company time and facility, and can work against you.

And here is one of the common pet peeves for many staff — shrieks and chimes of a mobile phone. A workplace is a place where people need peace of mind to work.

Your colleagues do not want to hear the incessant buzzing of your phone every time a call or a text drops in. Those noises annoy. They disturb, distract and derail people off their train of thought.

Multiple studies show that it takes on average, about 11 minutes to get a distracted mind back to work. Multiply that by the number of staff, and see how much time is wasted when staff are bombarded by unrestrained phone noises.

PHONE CALL
Make it a habit to mute your phone when you arrive at the office. If you have to take a call, be sure to keep it short. Move to an area where you won’t be a distraction, and try not to get carried away with your volume.

When it comes to checking those notifications and texts, keep it short. You can block out small chunks of time in your day for phone breaks to make sure you stay on task.

These days, one of the most sought after service in social places is a place to charge a device. If there are only a few spots where you can plug your gadgets to charge, never unplug someone else’s device so you can charge yours.

Worse, don’t take someone else’s charger. People are not so willing to share, especially because if a charger gets damaged, the owner can be highly inconvenienced. In any case, every phone comes with its own charger.

PRODUCTIVITY
Lastly, only wear headphones at your desk or avoid using them altogether while in the office. As a matter of fact, it’s almost a taboo to walk around the office with your headphones on. Listening to other content while at work will reduce your level of concentration. Multitasking is a myth: Only computers multitask, flawlessly.

Wearing headphones at work is interpreted as disinterest or outright impolite. Etiquette is about being courteous to those around you and not abusing office privileges.

These tech etiquette may seem mundane but could cost you a relationship, a promotion or a job.

The writer is an informatics specialist. [email protected] @samwambugu2